CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES AND 
WISCONSIN 



^W^. C . HEWITT 






Gass O 
Book ^f/O 

Copyright}^ 



.//6 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Civil Government 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES AND 
WISCONSIN 



For Common Schools and High Schools 



BY 

W. C. HEWITT, M. Ped. 

State Institute Conductor of the Oshkosh State Normal School 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

BOSTON 
New York Chicago San Francisco 






Copyright, 1910 

BY 

EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 



©ClA27o53? 



CONTENTS 

The Constitution of the United States 

I Introductory 7 

II The Legislative Power 10 

III The Executive Power 51 

IV The Judicial Power 64 

The Constitution of the State of Wisconsin 

The Constitution 81 

I The Legislative Power 117 

II The Executive Power 124 

III The Judicial Power 128 

IV Election 131 

V Finance and Taxation 37 

VI Local Government 143 

VII Education 151 

The Constitution of the United States , . . .161 

Index 181 



INTRODUCTION 

This brief outline of our National and State Gov- 
ernments is designed to bring to the pupil the leading 
and important facts of Civil Government. 

Many subjects have been omitted intentionally, 
but have been brought to the pupil's attention by 
means of questions. 

The questions are designed to stir up the pupil's 
thought, and to inspire him to investigate and dis- 
cuss. We believe that nearly everything in these 
outlines can be taught as assigned lessons, and if 
more of philosophy and history are needed, they 
can be supplied by the teacher, or looked up in 
books of reference. 

The proper approach to any subject is through an 
organic Topic. But before the topic can be devel- 
oped many things must be known, and nothing so 
stimulates knowledge as to approach it by means 
of a challenge or a question. 

It is hoped that teachers will find the questions 
and exercises practical, stimulating and helpful. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
UNITED STATES 

I Introductory 

The Constitution as we now have it is an out- 
growth of the necessities of government experienced 
by the Colonies and States prior to 1789. 

From very early days the Colonists had found 
some form of Union necessary to their existence. 
In 1643, ^ group of the Colonies united for protection 
against the Indians. 

In 1754, a Congress convened at Albany, to ad- 
just relations with certain Indian tribes, and "for 
security and defense," but its action was not ratified 
by any of the Colonies. 

In 1765, twenty-eight men representing nine 
Colonies met in New York to consider their relations 
with Great Britain. During the next nine years the 
spirit of independence was kept alive by ''committees 
of correspondence" between the Colonies. 

Out of these agitations, caused primarily by the 
measures of the English government for the govern- 
ment of the Colonies, grew the Continental Con- 

7 



8 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

gresses which continued in session from 1774 to 
1781. 

These movements looking toward a central union 
reacted strongly upon all the states, so that before 
the year 1778 nearly all of them had adopted new 
Constitutions. 

The last effort toward union prior to the adoption 
of the Constitution was the formation of the Articles 
of Confederation, under which the States worked 
from 1 781 until 1789. 

Delaware was the first to ratify the Constitution, 
December 7, 1787; and Rhode Island the last. 
May 29, 1790. 

When people are dissatisfied with a Constitution 
they generally amend it; but the defects of the 
Articles of Confederation were so many and so 
fundamental, that when the convention tried to 
remedy their defects, it was found easier to frame 
an entirely new Constitution. 

As might be expected, the Constitution is a com- 
promise of opposing interests and principles. Dur- 
ing the time that the States were considering the new 
constitution, parties were bom and issues drawn 
that have persisted even to this day. 

"Who should be the 'people,' who should pay 
taxes, and how; how should the States be repre- 
sented; should slavery exist or be recognized; how 
should the people be safeguarded in their political 
social, and religious rights" — these were the ques- 
tions of great debate, and in one form or other con- 
tinue to be the things around which, and for which, 
parties gather and contend. 



of the united states 9 

Supplementary Quotations 

When the committee that was selected to draft 
the Constitution reported back to Congress, they 
said: 

"It is obviously impracticable in the Federal 
Government of these States, to secure all right of 
independent sovereignty to each, and yet provide 
for the interest and safety of all. Individuals enter- 
ing into society must give up a share of liberty to 
preserve the rest. 

"In all our deliberations we kept steadily in our 
view that which appeared to us the greatest interest 
of every true American — the consolidation of the 
Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, 
safety, perhaps our National existence.'' 



Questions and Exercises 

1. Give in chronological order the attempts at Union 
among the Colonies and States, and tell what was the moving 
purpose in each. 

2. Upon what did the large and small States differ when 
they were adopting the Constitution? The Northern and 
Southern States? 

3. Name three distinguished men who bore part in draft- 
ing the Constitution. 

4. What was the Federalist, and what part did it play 
in the adoption of the Constitution ? 

5. Why is the period from 1781 to 1789 called the ^'criti- 
cal" period? 



II The Legislative Power 

Before beginning a sectional study of the United 
States Constitution, the student should take a general 
look at the whole instrument — noticing the ''enact- 
ing clause," that there are seven "Articles" which 
are divided into ''Sections," and the sections into 
"Clauses"; that there is a group of fifteen "Amend- 
ments" divided into Articles and Sections; and he 
should also note the language in which the Constitu- 
tion is written, how clearly and succinctly it reads. 



ARTICLE I 

Section i. "All legislative powers herein granted 
shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, 
which shall consist of a Senate and House of 
Representatives." 

Section 2. Clause i. "The House of Repre- 
sentatives shall be composed of members chosen 
every second year by the people of the several States, 
and the elector in each State shall have the qualifica- 
tions requisite for electors of the most numerous 
branch of the State Legislature." 

1. The Constitution does not directly say who 
shall vote for members of the House of Representa- 
tives but declares in efiect that if one can vote for 

10 



OF THE UNITED STATES II 

members of the ''most numerous" house in his own 
State, then he can de facto vote for United States 
Representatives. 

2. To vote for a United States Representative, 
then, a resident in Wisconsin, must fulfill the follow- 
ing conditions: the voter or ^'elector," must be a 
male, at least twenty-one years of age, and must be a 
citizen of the United States, or have declared his in- 
tention to become one, and must have resided one 
year in the State next preceding the election, and in 
the election district at least ten days. 

3. By Article XV of the Amendments, negroes 
are given the suffrage, and States are forbidden to 
deny or abridge their rights, but in one way or an- 
other many of the States have practically disfran- 
chised them. In 1898, Louisiana required certain 
property and educational qualifications, then she 
excepted from the qualifications, all those whose 
fathers were voters in 1867, or before, which of 
course practically establishes white suffrage only. 
This latter clause is known as the ''Grandfather 
Clause." 

4. Congress has enacted that the election of 
Representatives shall in general be by districts, de- 
termined by the State Legislatures, and on the first 
Tuesday after the first Monday in the even numbered 
years. 

Sometimes Legislatures have districted their States 
so as to favor one or the other political party. This 
practice has been called "Gerrymandering." 



i 



12 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Clause 2. "No person shall be a Representative 
who shall not have attained to the age of twenty- 
five years, and been seven years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be 
chosen." 

Clause 3. '^Representatives and direct taxes shall 
be apportioned among the several States which may 
be included within this Union, according to their 
respective numbers, which shall be determined by 
adding to the whole number of free persons, includ- 
ing those bound to service for a term of years, and 
excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other 
persons. The actual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every 
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as 
they shall by law direct. The number of Repre- 
sentatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, but each State shall at least have one 
Representative; and, until such enumeration shall 
be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be en- 
titled to choose three; Massachusetts, eight; Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations, one; Connecti- 
cut five; New York, six; New Jersey, four; Penn- 
sylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; Vir- 
ginia, ten; North Carolina, five; South Carolina, 
five, and Georgia, three." 

1. One of the questions long debated before the 
Committee that drafted the Constitution was. Who 
shall be counted in the population ? If all the slaves 



OF THE UNITED STATES 1 3 

were counted, then the South would have the ad- 
vantage ; if none were counted, then the North would 
have a larger proportion of Representatives; so a 
compromise was reached to the effect that three out 
of every five slaves should be counted. This is the 
famous "three-fifths clause." 

2. In Section 2 of Article XIV of Amendments, 
Clause 3 of Article I is repealed, and it is provided 
that if any State denies the right of suffrage to male 
members thereof, then in that degree the representa- 
tion of the State shall be reduced. States have 
denied the right of suffrage to Negroes under differ- 
ent pretexts, but Congress has never yet made the 
reduction, although efforts have been made to do 
so. 

Suppose a State having two hundred thousand 
Negro voters and one hundred thousand white 
voters, should limit the suffrage to white voters, then 
if the State had ordinarily twelve members of the 
House of Representatives they could be reduced to 
four. 

The general impression, North and South, seems 
to be that the South by limiting the Negro vote is 
doing what is best for both races, and likely will be 
left to work out her own salvation. 

3. The "Enumeration" referred to in Clause 3 
is the census which is taken every ten years. 

The work of taking the census is now in charge 
of a permanent census bureau. The results of a 
census are very important as it shows the condition 
and progress of the people. In the census are given 
the age, sex, nativity, literacy, health, and wealth of 



14 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

the American people. The condition of commerce, 
agriculture, and manufactures is given, and every 
item of taxation and expenditure is clearly set forth. 
Legislators learn from the census the country's 
needs, and are thus enabled to make wiser laws. 

4. At first the number of Representatives was 
sixty-five, then it rose to 105, with a ratio of one 
member for each thirty-three thousand of popula- 
tion. 

The present number is 371 with a ratio of about 
194,000. 

When the ratio is changed Congress determines 
on how many members shall constitute the House, 
and then the population is divided by this number. 
When a new State enters, its population is divided 
by the ratio to determine the number of Representa- 
tives, provided always that each State shall have at 
least one Representative. 

Clause 4. "When vacancies happen in the repre- 
sentation from any State, the executive authority 
thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacan- 
cies." 

Clause 5. "The House of Representatives shall 
choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall 
have the sole power of impeachment." 

The persons who are subject to impeachment are 
the President, Vice-President, and all civil officers. 
One of the most celebrated cases of impeachment 
was that of President Johnson, who was accused of 
violating the Tenure-of- Office Act. The final vote 



OF THE UNITED STATES 1 5 

was thirty-five for conviction and nineteen for ac- 
quittal, just one vote less than the necessary two- 
thirds. An impeachment can lie only for cases of 
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misde- 
meanors. In the history of our country there have 
been but few cases of impeachment. 

Section 3. Clause i. "The Senate of the 
United States shall be composed of two Senators 
from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, 
for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote." 

Clause 2. "Immediately after they shall be as- 
sembled in consequence of the first election, they 
shall be divided as equally as may be into three 
classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class 
shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, 
of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, 
and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth 
year, so that one-third may be chosen every second 
year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or 
otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of 
any State, the Executive thereof may make tempo- 
rary appointments until the next meeting of the Leg- 
islature, which shall then fill such vacancies." 

Clause 3. "No person shall be a Senator who 
shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, 
and been nine years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of 
that State for which he shall be chosen." 

Clause 4. "The Vice-President of the United 
States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have 
no vote unless they be equally divided." 



l6 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Clause 5. "The Senate shall choose their other 
officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the 
absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall ex- 
ercise the office of President of the United States." 

Clause 6. "The Senate shall have the sole power 
to try all impeachments. When sitting for that 
purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When 
the President of the United States is tried, the Chief 
Justice shall preside; and no person shall be con- 
victed without the concurrence of two-thirds of the 
members present." 

Clause 7. "Judgment in case of impeachment 
shall not extend further than to removal from office, 
and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office 
of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; 
but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable 
and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and 
punishment, according to law." 

1. At present the Senate numoers ninety-two. 

2. Although the Senators are elected for six 
years, yet when a new State is admitted its Senators 
are by lot assigned to the least numerous classes, 
and so may hold office for only two, or four years. 

3. The student will get an idea of the life of a 
United States Senator by this summary of a Senator's 
life by Henry Cabot Lodge: 

I. He has to answer personally or otherwise from forty to 
sixty letters each day. Many of these letters are of importance 
and require research for their answer. He receives many 
anonymous letters, but these are thrown into the basket un- 
read. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 1 7 

2. Then he attends the meeting of the various committees 
of which he is a member. As a member of a committee he has 
much work to attend to and many responsibilities. This 
work alone requires great and constant effort. 

3. Then he attends the session of the Senate which usually 
meets at noon and lasts on the average four or five hours. When 
important bills are being discussed he should be in his place, 
and yet he will be called from his place many times a day to 
meet all kinds of people on all kinds of business — office seek- 
ers, lobbyists, relic hunters, agents, and people with grievances. 

4. And then he must spend his evenings in preparing his 
speeches and special reports. When we consider how wearing 
such a life must be, it is no wonder that the Constitution has 
sought to have the Senators of ripe age, of unquestioned in- 
tegrity and great ability. 



Section 4. Clause 1. "The times, places, and 
manner of holding elections for Senators and Repre- 
sentatives shall be prescribed in each State by the 
Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any 
time by law make or alter such regulations, except 
as to the places of choosing Senators." 

Clause 2. "The Congress shall assemble at least 
once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the 
first Monday in December, unless they shall by law 
appoint a different day." 



1. The necessities and advantages are many for 
having a uniform mode of electing Senators; and so 
Congress has enacted that when the Legislature of 
the State meets, a vote shall be taken for Senator, 
and if the person has a majority of each house, he 
is elected; if not, then the Legislature meets daily 



1 8 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

at noon in joint session and ballots from day to day 
until some one is elected. 

The Legislature has occasionally got into a ''dead- 
lock," on the election of Senator, and so the State 
was for that time deprived of its representation in the 
Senate. 

Delaware was without Senators from 1901 to 
1903. 

2. The sixty-first Congress began March 4, 1909, 
and will end March 4, 191 1. 



Questions on Article I, Sections 1-4 

1. Give a brief summary for Representatives and Senators, 
under the following heads: Number, terms of office, when 
and how elected, apportionment and number, qualifications. 

2. Who is meant by the "Electors" in Article I, Section 2 ? 

3. Explain the controversy that produced the "three-fifths" 
clause. 

4. Tell how the Southern States eliminate the Negro vote, 
and say whether you regard it as just or not. 

5. What reason do you see for the people electing repre- 
sentatives, while the Legislatures elect senators ? 

6. What might Congress do if any State should by law 
openly exclude Negroes from voting? 

7. Who is the "executive authority" referred to in Article 
I, Section 2, Clause 4? 

8. When a new State enters the Union, how is the number 
of Representatives determined ? Why do not the first Senators 
always hold office for six years? 

9. Describe the method of electing Senators and Repre- 
sentatives. 

10. What reason do you see for the prohibition on Congress 
as to the place of electing Senators ? 



4^ 



GRAy^TSeuRG 



CELL5W0RTH 

R C E - 



-^ 



POPULATION OF COI 
(Censu 



WISCONSIN 

ficpcucd fo///eC' 

BLUE BOOH or T//E STATE 

fVomOfTicial Records. 
1900. 




1st District 


..191,491 


2(i 




..170,792 


3d 


' 


..180,750 


4th 




..183,540 


5th 




..181,706 


6th 




,.184,517 


7th 




..193,890 


8th 




..194,634 


9th 
10th 




..179,097 
..190,975 




..217,650 


T 


otal, 


2,069.042 



OF THE UNITED STATES 1 9 

1 1 . What qualification must a voter have to vote for Repre- 
sentatives in Wisconsin? 

12. By a drawing, show what is meant by "gerrymander- 

13. What advantage is it to the United States to have a 
census taken every ten years? 

14. Explain how a President would be impeached and 
tried, did he commit treason. 

15. Summarize the duties of a Senator as given by Henry 
Cabot Lodge. 

16. If you were to choose between being a Representative, 
or a Senator, which would it be, and why? 

17. Here are some questions suggested by what Thomas 
B Reed says about being a Congressman: 

(i.) Why does a new member usually have a hard 
time to get on? 

(2.) Why does not the vote follow the "best" speeches ? 
(3.) Why out of 10,000 proposed laws do only 500 
become laws? 

(4.) What makes it difficult to be either seen or 
heard in the Hall of Representatives? 
18 Turn to the map of congressional districts in Wisconsin: 
Notice that the districts have about the same number of 
inhabitants. 

Is Wisconsin a "gerrymandered" state? 



20 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



Section 5. Clause i. ''Each House shall bs 
the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications 
of its own members; and a majority of each shall 
constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller 
number may adjourn from day to day, and may be 
authorized to compel the attendance of absent mem- 
bers, in such manner and under such penalties as 
each house may pro\dde." 

Clause 2. " Each house may determine the Rules 
of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly 
behavior, and with a concurrence of two-thirds expel 
a member." 

Clause 3. "Each House shall keep a journal 
of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the 
same, excepting such parts as may, in their judg- 
ment, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the 
members of either House on any question shall, at 
the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on 
the journal." 

Clause 4. "Neither House, during the session of 
Congress, shall, \^dthout the consent of the other, ad- 
journ for miore than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

1. The following was the order of proceedings in 
each House of the second session of the Sixty-first 
Congress : 

House of Representatives 

I . The house was called to order by the Speaker, 
Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, at 12 m., December 6. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 21 

2. Prayer was offered by the Chaplain, Henry 
N. Couden, D. D. 

3. The Speaker then directed the clerk to call 
the roll. 

4. The credentials of a Representative-elect from 
Washington were read, and the oath of office ad- 
ministered. 

5. Resolutions were then passed notifying the 
President and Senate that the House was in session. 

6. After fixing upon 12 m. as the time of future 
meetings, the House adjourned as a mark of respect to 
former Representatives Lassiter and DeArmond, who 
died since the last meeting of Congress. 

In the Senate, the order was essentially the same, 
the Senate adjourning as a mark of respect to the 
memory of Senator Johnson of North Dakota. 

2. The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice- 
President of the United States. 

The presiding officer of the House is the Speaker. 

In the Senate the committees are in reality elected, 
but in the House they are appointed by the Speaker, 
and so it will be seen that he wields an immense 
power. 

Most of the business of Congress is worked out in 
Committees, and the Speaker may so organize the 
Committees that they will work out the great bills on 
commerce, finance and taxation to suit him, or the 
party which he represents. 

The Speaker is powerful, too, in that no member 
*Mias the floor" until he is recognized by the Speaker, 
and it often happens that members fail to get their 



22 CIVIL go\t:rx:ment 

business before the House at all. And then, too, the 
Speaker guides legislation by the way he puts or 
suppresses motions, and decides points of order. 
Take it for all in all, the Speaker of the House is 
probably the most important element at the Capitol 
in directing legislation and making laws. 

3. There are sometimes contests in the various 
states as to whom is elected. This contest is brought 
before the proper House at Washington, is investi- 
gated by the Committee on Elections, and then re- 
ported to the House for action. Often the majority 
will seat a member in spite of the fact that the other 
contestant has law and justice on his side. In 1899, 
the House refused to seat a member from Utah on the 
ground that he was a polygamist, and a member from 
^lontana was refused a seat on the ground that his 
election had been compassed by briber}'. 

4. Sometimes a member is expelled for some 
crime or misdemeanor, as when the Senate expelled 
a member for treasonable utterances in 1863; and 
a member in 1870. for selling his appointments. 

5. Both the House and Senate have elaborate 
Rules for the transaction of business. These rules 
were based primarily on Jefferson's Manual of Par- 
liamentary' Practice, and have grown in complexity 
v.ith the years, and the requirements of new issues. 
Ordinarily members require several sessions to know 
the ins and outs of the rules, and it stands to reason 
that the Speaker must not only know the rules of the 
House, but must have executive power as well. 

6. Sometimes members become careless in their 
attendance upon the sessions of Congress, or in- 



OF THE UNITED STATES 23 

tentionally absent themselves. In this event the Ser- 
geant -at -Arms may compel their attendance, wher- 
ever or whenever they may be found. 

Sometimes members desire to absent themselves 
from the Capitol — in that case they arrange to 
^^pair" with some other member on the opposite 
side. It is quite common when a vote is being taken 
for a member to say: *'I am paired with the gentle- 
man from , were he present he would vote 

'aye/ and I would vote 'no."' It is customary also 
for the "pairs" to be published in the Congressional 
Record, so that all members may know of them. 

7. The Congressional Record is published daily, 
and contains the record of business done in Con- 
gress, save what is done by the Senate when dis- 
cussing appointments, or when it is sitting in Executive 
session. 

A great many of the speeches, however, that ap- 
pear in the Record are really not delivered, but mem- 
bers get permission to ''continue their remarks in 
the Record^ ^ or "leave to print "^ — all of which 
saves the members from listening to long and some- 
times dull speeches. Yet the Record is a wonder- 
ful storehouse of fact and argument, and deserves 
a far wider reading by the people than it usually 
gets. 

Section 6. Clause i. "The Senators and Repre- 
sentatives shall receive compensation for their ser- 
vices, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the 
Treasury of the United States. They shall, in all 
cases except treason, felony, and breach of the 



24 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

peace, be privileged from arrest during their attend- 
ance at the session of their respective houses, and in 
going to and returning from the same; and for any 
speech or debate in either house, they shall not be 
questioned in any other place." 

Clause 2. ''No Senator or Representative shall, 
during the time for which he was elected, be ap- 
pointed to any civil office under the authority of the 
United States, which shall have been created, or the 
emoluments whereof shall have been increased dur- 
ing such time; and no person holding any office 
under the United States shall be a member of either 
House during his continuance in office." 

The matter of salary has been a rather difficult 
one to adjust since the members are called on to 
determine their own compensation. 

This has resulted always in members receiving 
really less than they should, except it be argued that 
the membership be only one of honor, and that only 
the rich should be Legislators. 

In 1873, the salary of members was raised to $7500, 
but the act met with such a storm of popular disap- 
proval that many members refused the extra $2500, 
and at the next session the salary act was repealed. 

But the cost of living and other expenses at Wash- 
ington have so increased, that the people seem to be 
satisfied that it is now $7500 a year, and twenty cents 
mileage. 

The Speaker receives $12,000 per annum. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 25 



Questions on Article I, Sections 5 and 6 

1. What is the difference between ''elections," and "re- 
turns," in Section 5? 

2. Distinguish between a "quorum," "majority," and 
"plurality." 

3. Why should each House have the right to compel the 
attendance of members? 

4. What reason do you see in the prohibition on adjourn- 
ment? 

5. Tell something of what is done on the opening day in 
either house of Congress. 

6. Why is the office of Speaker so important ? 

7. Why are election cases settled by a majority, but ex- 
pulsions, by a two-thirds majority? 

8. What is the name of the journal published by Congress? 
Why is it an important publication ? 

9. What is the difference between the Journal and the 
Congressional Record? 

10. What is your opinion as to the amount of salary a Con- 
gressman should receive? Boards of Aldermen and members 
of Parliament receive no salary. 

11. Take any of the far western states, and give an estimate 
of the amount of mileage drawn by one of the Congressmen 
therefrom. 

12. The great power of the Speaker leads easily into abuse, 
and in 19 10 the House voted to change the Rules committee 
from 5 to 10, and instead of being appointed by the Speaker, 
it is to be elected. The Speaker also is not to be a member 
of the Committee. 

As the Rules Committee determines the order and extent of 
question and debate, it can be seen that the present law is a 
revolt against what is called the arbitrary power of the Speaker. 



26 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



"All bills for raising rev- 



Section 7. Clause i. 
enue shall originate in the House of Representatives ; 
but the Senate may propose or concur with amend- 
ments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of 
Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it be- 
comes a law, be presented to the President of the 
United States; if he approve, he shall sign it, but 
if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that 
House in which it shall have originated, who shall 
enter the objections at large on their journal and pro- 
ceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration 
two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, 
it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other House, by which it shall likewise be recon- 
sidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, 
it shall become a law. But in all cases the votes of 
both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for and against 
the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by 
the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) 
after it shall have been presented to him, the same 
shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it 
unless the Congress by their adjournment prevents 
its return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Clause 2. "Every order, resolution or vote to 
which the concurrence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives may be necessary (except on a ques- 
tion of adjournment) shall be presented to the 
President of the United States; and before the 



OF THE UNITED STATES 2 7 

same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or, 
being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two- 
thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
according to the rules and limitations prescribed in 
the case of a bill." 

1. Clause 2 prevents Congress from passing a 
bill without the President's signature, under the 
guise of a *' resolution," or "vote," or "order." 

2. Congress represses many more bills than it 
passes, from which it is evident that the passing of 
a bill is neither easy nor simple. 

a. When bills are presented by members they 
are read by their title, and then "referred" to the 
proper committee. As has been before explained, 
these Committees in the House are appointed by the 
Speaker, and so if a bill is recognized as striking at 
any of the principles of the majority, it is referred 
to a Committee which never reports on ii, and so the 
bill fails. 

Under ordinary circumstances the favorable re- 
port of a Committee insures the passing of a bill, 
but sometimes the House will pass a bill contrary to 
the report of a Committee. 

h. The treatment of a bill by the Committee 
is not a simple matter either. If the bill is an im- 
portant one, it usually gets a careful inspection by 
the leaders of the majority in each House. Then its 
provisions and wording are carefully prepared, a 
work that sometimes requires tlie efforts of hiwyers 
and specialists for months. Sucli bills as have to do 
with the tariff, or the currency, often contain hundreds 



I 



28 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

of sections, and each one has to be carefully scanned. 
Sometimes the changing of a punctuation mark 
will make thousands of dollars' difference in some 
tax or duty, and sometimes designing persons will 
hide away in some innocent looking provision, 
enough dynamite to shatter the whole bill. These 
hidden but destructive clauses are sometimes called 
"Jokers." 

c. Let us see some of the forces that move or 
restrict members in the introduction of bills. 

1. The bill is often some individual wish, or re- 
form — and often an idiosyncrasy. Such bills sleep 
peacefully in the archives of the Committees. 

2. Members often introduce bills framed by 
needy or zealous constituents. Many people seem 
to think that the way to reform the world is to pass 
a law in regard thereto. Bills of this type are usually 
never read by either the Congressmen or the Com- 
mittees. 

3. Then there are bills of real merit on the needs 
of the country or the member's district, and Congress 
is usually quick and generous in such matters. 

4. Members often "logroll"; that is, "you vote 
for my bill, and I will vote for yours." 

5. Other powerful influences in the introduction 
of bills are the party influences, and the public senti- 
ment of the Congressman's district. These influ- 
ences often force a member to introduce and favor 
a bill in which he does not believe. Such condi- 
tions as this often arise: Where a Tariff, or River 
and Harbor bill is being passed, some member who 
is really opposed to a bill will reason that as other 



OF THE UNITED STATES 29 

states are going to get appropriations, he may as 
well have some for his own district. 

6. It has happened many times that members 
are paid either in stock or money for the introduc- 
tion and support of a bill, and while such things 
will doubtless happen as long as there are private 
interests that may be affected by laws, the integrity of 
most Congressmen is of an unquestionably high 
order. 

7. Then members are influenced by ^'lobbyists" 
who are men and women, often of high standing and 
influence, who use every means in their power to 
influence the Congressman's action. 

Often his weaknesses or mistakes are used to force 
him into the support of some bill or measure. Often, 
too, those high up in office control the appointments 
in his district in such a way as to influence his action. 
When all things are considered it can be seen that the 
member who intelligently favors an honest bill, and 
stands by his convictions, has character, knowledge, 
and ability. 

d. I. When a bill is being debated by sections 
there are many ways in which the Speaker, aided by 
the Committee on Rules, can direct and suppress de- 
bate. The majority in each Congress makes its 
own rules, though one Congress usually adopts the 
rules of the preceding one. But ''rules " can be made 
at any time, and on any question, and so the Speaker, 
or the majority leaders, often devise ''rules" to retard 
or advance certain bills. 

2. But the minority often force matters In- a 
policy of obstruction. Skilled Parliamentarians make 



30 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

motions and roll calls, which consume much time. 
This of course prevents the transaction of important 
business and so the obstructionists often force their 
own measures to the front. The House, on account 
of the number of its members, limits the time which 
any one member may take for speaking, but in the 
Senate ^'Senatorial courtesy" allows any Senator 
to speak as long as he wishes, and so it happens that 
a Senator may compel a consideration of one bill 
by threatening to talk another bill to death. The 
organized system of obstruction is called "filibuster- 
ing." 

Filibustering is much more difficult in the House 
than in the Senate, for there is a House rule that 
gives the speaker power to refuse to put so-called 
''dilatory motions." 

e. Voting in Congress is by: 

1. Ayes and noes. 

2. Or the members "divide " on the right and 

left. 

3. Or the members file by the "tellers," and 

are counted. 

4. Or the roll is called for the yeas and 

nays. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 3 1 

Questions and Exercises on Article I, Section 7 

1. What is the difference between a bill and a law? 

2. Why should the origin of revenue bills be limited to the 
House ? 

3. Why should there be three readings of a bill, and on 
different days? 

4. Why are bills referred to committees, and what is the 
method of procedure in the committee? 

5. Tell some of the influences that cause members to 
favor or oppose bills. 

6. What relation have the facts in (5) to the necessity of 
electing able and honest Congressmen, 

7. Explain how the Speaker is influential in passing bills. 

8. Describe the mode and purposes in "filibustering." 

9. Describe the ways in which votes are taken and tell the 
reason why there are several methods of voting. 

10. Explain the relation the President has to the passing 
of bills. Why should the Executive be given legislative power ? 

11. Tell what you can of the manner and purpose of the 
Presidents veto. What is the so-called "Pocket veto?" 



32 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



Section 8. Clause i. ''The Congress shall have 
power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and 
excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common 
defense and general welfare of the United States; 
but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States." 

Clause 2. "To borrow money on the credit of the 
United States." 

Clause 3. "To regulate commerce with foreign 
nations, and among the several States and with the 
Indian tribes." 

Clause 4. "To establish an uniform rule of natu- 
ralization, and uniform laws on the subject of bank- 
ruptcies throughout the United States. 

Clause 5. "To coin money, regulate the value 
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of 
weights and measures." 

Clause 6. "To provide for the punishment of 
counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the 
United States." 

Clause 7. "To establish post-ofifices and post 
roads." 

Clause 8. "To promote the progress of science 
and useful arts, by securing for limited times to 
authors and inventors the exclusive right to their 
respective writings and discoveries." 

Clause 9. "To constitute tribunals inferior to 
the Supreme Court." 

Clause 10. "To define and punish piracies and 
felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses 
against the laws of nations." 



OF THE UNITED STATES ^^ 

Clause II. "To declare war, grant letters of 
marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning 
captures on land and water." 

Clause 12. '^To raise and support armies, but 
no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a 
longer term than two years." 

Clause 13. '^To provide and maintain a navy." 

Clause 14. "To make rules for the government 
and regulation of the land and naval forces," 

Clause 15. "To provide for calling forth the 
militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress 
insurrections and repel invasions." 

Clause 16. "To provide for organizing, arming, 
and disciplining the militia, and for governing such 
part of them as may be employed in the service of 
the United States, reserving to the States respectively, 
the appointment of the officers, and the authority of 
training the mihtia according to the discipline pre- 
scribed by Congress." 

Clause 17. "To exercise exclusive Legislation in 
all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceed- 
ing ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular 
States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the 
seat of government of the United States, and to ex- 
ercise like authority over all places purchased by 
the consent of the Legislature of the State in whicli 
the same shall be, for the erection of forts, maga- 
zines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful build- 
ings; and 

Clause 18. "To make all laws which shall bo 
necessary and proper for carrying into execution the 
foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by 



34 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

this Constitution in the Government of the United 
States, or in any deoartment or officer thereof." 

1, Taxation 

There is no power of government that bears so 
close a relation to the people as the power of taxa- 
tion. The greatest revolutions of the world have 
come from the abuse of the taxing power, and every 
citizen of the United States should know how, and 
whereon taxes are levied. 

a. The simplest division of taxes is into the 
two great classes, direct and indirect. When a citizen 
pays a tax on his property based on its value, the tax 
is said to be direct. The State, County, and City 
taxes are direct taxes. 

* Direct taxes are usually from two sources, personal 
property and real estate. The personal property 
in New York is assessed at about $700,000,000; the 
realty at about $9,000,000,000. In Wisconsin, the 
personal property is about $25o,ooo,ooo,and the 
realty about $1,200,000,000. Indirect taxes are 
levied on the manufacture, sale, or consumption of 
articles. 

The total revenue of the United States in 19 10, 
was about $670,000,000, of which about 305,000,000 
was from custom, and a little less from the internal 
revenue. The United States has from time to time 
levied direct taxes, and the student will note that 
when this is done the taxes are levied among the 
States according to the population. Article I, Sec- 
tion 2. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 35 

This has an interesting bearing on the matter of 
levying an income tax. A few years ago Congress 
passed an income tax law, and the matter was brought 
before the Supreme Court on the issue that when a 
man was taxed on an income derived from real es- 
tate, the tax was on the real estate, and so was 
a direct tax, and therefore must be levied, not 
according to income, but according to population. 
The Supreme Court agreed with the contention, and 
pronounced the law unconstitutional. An effort 
is now being made to amend the Constitution so that 
such an income tax can be levied. 

b. Indirect taxes are further divided into internal 
revenue taxes and duties. A duty tax on the value 
of an article imported is said to be advalorem. A 
duty tax on the article irrespective of its value, is 
said to be specific. Some articles pay both duties: 
thus two-ply carpets pay a tax of eighteen cents per 
square yard, and forty per cent advalorem. Liquors 
and tobacco are the basis of the internal revenue, and 
the tax is on both their manufacture and sale. 

2. Finances 

a. Congress detemiines what, and how much 
shall be ^' money" and ^4egal tender" for debts. 
"Lawful" money includes gold coins, silver dollars, 
treasury notes, and bank notes. 

The theoretical unit of value is a gold dollar of 
25.8 grains, ninety per cent fine. 

The silver dollar weighs 412.5 grains and is ninelv 
per cent fine. The "subsidiary" silver ccnns are 



36 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

legal tender for sums up to ten dollars; the ^' minor" 
coins for sums up to twenty-five cents. 

b. When the United States wishes to borrow 
money it issues ''bonds payable usually in from 5 
to 20 years, and bearing a low rate of interest. Al- 
though the interest rate is low, they are much sought 
after by men of large means on account of the surety 
of the returns. 

In 1 9 10, the United States had a bonded debt 
of about Si, 000, 000, 000. 

Questions and Exercises on Tax-A.tion and Money 

1. Distinguish between direct and indirect taxes. A 
revenue and custom tax. 

2. What is a Custom House? 

3. In what way does a cigar maker pay his tax ? In what 
way does he get it back again? 

4. It is sometimes said that a custom tax makes the like 
article in the United States cheaper — explain. 

5. Classify the following taxes: On playing cards, liquor 
licenses, oleomargarine, automobile licenses, poll tax, real 
estate, pianos, incomes, inheritances, distilling of whiskey, 
and a tax on the importation of gloves. 

6. Take an ordinal}^ householder and enumerate the 
various taxes he likely pays, and give an estimate as to which 
is the largest. 

7. In your opinion, which pays relatively the larger tax 
— the rich or the poor ? 

8. Name five articles which you use or consume that pay 
an indirect tax; three which vou use or see, that pay a direct 
tax. 

9. Examine a liquor or a tobacco stamp — how does it 
read? 

10. What is a United States bond, a school bond, a city 
bond, a State bond? 



OF THE UNITED STATES 37 

11. Suppose you should be willing to get a return of three 
per cent on your money, what would you pay for a four per 
cent $1000 bond ? For a two per cent $1000 bond ? 

12. Why is the matter of taxation an important question 
in Civil Government? 

13. Define ''money," "legal tender," "currency." 

14. If you had some gold nuggets, the United States would 
coin them for you, would it be the same if you had silver 
nuggets ? Why ? 

15. Examine a treasury note and a bank note — how do 
they differ? 

16. What is meant when it is said that "gold is cheap," 
"gold is dear"? 

17. Discuss the truth in the statement that "A National 
debt is a National blessing." In what sense is an individual 
debt a "blessing"? 

18. Which is worth the more, a silver dollar, or a silver 
spoon weighing 412.5 grains? Why? 

19. In what way does the Government make a "profit" 
on its silver coinage? 

20. Why are Mexican dollars worth only about fifty cents 
here, while United States silver dollars are in Mexico worth 
their full face value? 

21. A man goes into Canada having in his pocket a twenty- 
five cent Canadian piece. He buys a glass of soda water, 
gives for it the Canadian money and receives in change a 
United States twenty-five cent piece, which in the interior 
of Canada goes for twenty cents. Later he is in the United 
States and buys a glass of soda water, tendering for it the 
United States coin and receives in change a twenty-five cent 
Canadian piece which in the United States generally goes 
for twenty cents. He now has the same monc}' with which 
he started — who paid for the soda water? 

22. The United States collects about $1,000,000 tax on 
oleomargarine. Why should this be taxed, and whom does the 
tax most benefit ? 

23. Is the purpose the same in the internal revenue tax as 
in the customs tax ? 



38 civil government 

3. Commerce 

In the early years of our government the foreign 
commerce of the country occupied the position of 
first importance, but our country has grown so large 
and rich, that the problems of internal commerce 
now transcend all others. 

Great trusts and monopolies have been organized, 
that affect the welfare of every citizen of the Repub- 
lic, while railroads that bind the Atlantic to the 
Pacific make and unmake cities, and raise and lower 
the cost of the necessaries of life almost at ^vill. 
This condition has compelled Congress to enter on 
a system of careful control and regulation. 

The first Interstate Commerce law was passed 
in 1887, and has been amended several times — all 
vdth the purpose of increasing its efficiency. 

The law is now administered by an Interstate 
Commerce Commission of seven members. Some of 
the things which the law seeks to prevent are: 

1. The holding of coal lands by railroads. 

2. The "rebating" by railroads, a practice which 
has enabled certain shippers to send goods at a less 
rate than others. To this end the rates and tariffs 
must be placed where the public can see them. 

3. The combining of railroads and other corpora- 
tions to put up or maintain certain rates. 

The law also requires that railroads use certain 
safety appliances on their cars, and make a report of 
all accidents. 

The purpose of the law is to force into publicity the 
business of the great corporations, so that no man shall 



J 



OF THE UNITED STATES 39 

be unduly oppressed, and no man unduly favored. 
When commerce is carried on wholly within a State it 
does not come under the Interstate commerce law. It 
should be noted that not only are railroads and other 
corporations forbidden to '' combine," but laborers 
or others are forbidden to conspire to injure the rail- 
roads or other corporations. The problems of the 
Commission are many and difficult, and the work of 
no other commission comes closer to the people for 
good or evil. Every year brings new problems to 
be settled, and there never was a time when there 
was more need that the boys and girls of the nation 
should know their country's problems more intelli- 
gently — and knowing, dare to maintain them. 

"New occasions bring new duties, 

Time makes ancient good uncouth; 
They must upward be and onward, 
Who would keep abreast with truth." 

4. Naturalization 

a. If a foreigner desires to become a citizen of 
the United States, he goes before a court of record 
and declares his intention. Not less than two years, 
or more than seven years after this declaration he is 
admitted, provided he has been a resident of the 
United States at least five years previously, and of the 
State or district at least one 3^ear. In his oath of 
allegiance he must disown anarchy and polygamy, 
and renounce forever, allegiance to any foreign ruler. 
If the student will stop to think how he would 



40 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

feel, to become a citizen of any other country he will 
realize that naturaUzation is an important and sacred 
act. 

h. The wife and minor children of a citizen are, 
de facto, citizens. 

c. A foreigner eighteen years of age or less, may 
take out his first and second papers at the same 
time, provided he has been a resident of the United 
States five years. 

d. An alien who has served one year in the 
United States Army, or five years in the United States 
Navy, may become a citizen without previous de- 
claration. 

c. Unmarried women may become citizens in the 
same way as men. 

/. When a country is annexed to the United States, 
its free citizens are by act of Congress made citizens 
of the United States. 

g. The Chinese are by law prohibited from be- 
coming citizens. 

h. Ail persons born in the United States are citi- 
zens thereof. 

i. The student should see the distinction between 
a "voter" and a citizen of the United States. The 
right to vote is given by the States, under which right 
some of the States give persons not citizens of the 
United States the right of suft'rage. 

Some States — Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyo- 
ming — grant suffrage to women also. 

Some States have property qualifications, and 
others require a certain ability to read and write. 

j. Nearly all the States prohibit from voting — 



OF THE UNITED STATES 41 

idiots, lunatics, paupers, and those who have been 
convicted of felony or some infamous crime. 

k. Most of the States require all voters to have 
gone through some form of registration. 

5. Bankruptcies 

Sometimes a man fails in business. In this case 
he may be declared a bankrupt, and what property 
he has, be divided among his creditors. 

Afterwards he may begin again, and cannot be 
held for debts contracted before he became a bank- 
rupt. In 1909, R. G. Dun & Co, reported about 
13,000 commercial failures, with liabilities of about 



6. The Post-Office 

In 1910, there were about 62,000 post-offices for 
which the government paid about $225,000,000. The 
revenues were less than the expenditures by about 
$15,000,000. The number of pieces of mail matter 
which passed through the post-office in 1909 was 
about 14,000,000,000, about one-third in the whole 
world. The amount of money orders issued in the 
United States in 1909 was about $500,000,000. 

7. Military 

The military strength, actual and potential, of the 
United States lies in the regular army and navy, and 
in the militia is the various States. 

The expenditure for the United States Army and 
Navy in 1909 was about $2^:^0,000,000; of the 
British Army and Navy about $250,000,000; of the 



42 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

German Empire about $300,000,000. The number 
of men in both our Army and Navy is less than 
110,000. The land force alone in Germany is 
more than 600,000; Great Britain 250,000; Russia, 
1,100,000; Japan 225,000. Army officers are trained 
at the United States military academy West Point, 
New York, and the naval officers at the Naval 
Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. 

In 1909, there were about 950,000 pensioners on 
the United States roll, to whom was paid about 
$162,000,000. 

8. Weights and Measures 

Congress has legalized both the old-fashioned 
English units of measure, and the Metric system, but 
has established neither. But Congress has sent to 
each State a standard system of weights. In the 
various States the law declares what shall be a 
"yard,'' a "pound," a "bushel," etc. 

9. Patents and Copyrights 

In order to protect writers and inventors Congress 
has organized the patent office, to which all inventions 
are sent for examination and patent. If a patent 
is granted, no other person can make or sell the 
article patented. In 1909, about 60,000 appKca- 
tions for patents were made, and about 34,000 granted. 
The United States issues about one-third of all the 
patents in the world. Books and pamphlets and 
music are copyrighted, after which no other person 
can publish them. The cost of a copyright is merely 
nominal, but a patent may cost $100 or more. 



of the united states 43 

10. The Capital 

The Capital of the United States is Washington, in 
the District of Columbia. The government of the 
District is vested in a Board of three Commis- 
sioners appointed by the President, but all laws are 
directly under the supervision and control of Con^ 
gress. Washington is one of the most beautiful 
and best governed cities of the United States. 

Questions and Exercises on Article I, Section 8 

1. What is interstate commerce? 

2. What is the object, and necessity for an interstate 
commerce commission? 

3. Why was such a commission unnecessary in 1850? 

4. Tell some of the abuses that the interstate commerce 
law seeks to prevent. 

5. Why should Congress have sole charge of commerce with 
Indian tribes? 

6. Why is it contrary to public policy for railroad owners 
to own oil wells and mines ? 

7. Define the following words, and give the difference in 
meaning, if any: elector, freeholder, citizen, resident, voter, 
and inhabitant. 

8. State briefly the steps leading up to naturalization. 

9. What special naturahzation laws apply to Chinese, 
soldiers, minor children, married women? 

10. Define "expatriation." 

11. What is the importance of naturalization, and what are 
some of its abuses? 

12. What is a "bankrupt"? 

13. Whatarethe benefits and possible evilsof a banknipt law ? 

14. What significance has the large number of business 
failures in the United States? 

15. What are some of the excellencies of the post-otfice 
system as you know it ? 



44 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

1 6. Would it not be better to give the carrying of mail to 
private indi^•iduals, as express is now carried ? 

17. What ''classes" of mail have you ever sent? What was 
the cost per ounce ? 

18. Tell what you can about ''free deliver}'," "money 
orders," "rural delivery" and "special delivery." 

1 9. Did you ever hear of any one losing anything sent through 
the mails ? ' Why ? 

20. Show the form of a correctly directed letter. 

21. Compare the postal statistics of the United States with 
the rest of the world. What does it mean ? 

22. Why should the United States have special schools for 
the training of naval and military officers? 

23. Compare the cost of the army and navy in the United 
States with those of other countries. WTiat industrial signifi- 
cance have these figures ? 

24. Should the United States have a larger army or na\7 ? 
Vvhy is the army limited to less than 100,000 men? 

25. Why should the states define the various units of weight 
and measure? 

26. What is a "yard," a "pound," a "gallon?" 

27. Compare the English system with the metric system 
— which is the better ? 

28. What would be the effect if a man could not patent his 
invention, or copyright his book ? 

29. Name t\vo or three things that you know have been 
patented or copyrighted. 

30. What does the number of patents granted in the United 
States signify? 

31. What do you know about the city of Washington? 
Distinguish between capital and capitol. 

32. Which of all the powers of Congress do you regard as 
most important for you to understand? 

33. Resolved — that the United States should establish a 
postal savings bank. 

34. Resolved — that the United States should make the ex- 
press and telegraph business a part of the postal serv'ice. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 45 



Section 9. Clause i. ^'The migration or im- 
portation of such persons as any of the States now 
existing shall think proper to admit shall not be pro- 
hibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight; but a tax or duty may be 
imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten 
dollars for each person." 

Clause 2. ^'The privilege of the writ of habeas 
corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases 
of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require 
it." 

Clause 3. ^'No bill of attainder or ex post jacto 
law shall be passed." 

Clause 4. ^'No capitation or other direct tax 
shall be laid unless in proportion to the census or 
enumeration herein before directed to be taken." 

Clause 5. ^'No tax or duty shall be laid on arti- 
cles exported from any State." 

Clause 6. "No preference shall be given by any 
regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one 
State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound 
to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or 
pay duties in another." 

Clause 7. "No money shall be drawn from the 
Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made 
by law; and a regular statement and account of the 
receipts and expenditures of all public money shall 
be published from time to time." 

Clause 8. "No title of nobility shall be granted 
by the United States; and no ])erson holding an\' 
office of profit or trust under thcnn shall, without 



46 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, 
emolument, ofhce, or title, of any kind whatever, 
from any king, prince or foreign State. 

1. In 1808, Congress forbade the importation of 
slaves, and in 1820 declared the slave trade to be 
piracy. Clause i was a compromise between the 
South and North. The Importation tax on slaves 
referred to was never imposed. 

2. Were it not for the writ of habeas corpus a 
man might be imprisoned indefinitely, whether guilty 
or not. When the writ is obtained the person im- 
prisoned is brought before the proper court to deter- 
mine whether he is lawfully held or not. The grant- 
ing of the Ymi does not determine either the inno- 
cence or guilt of the person detained. In time of 
war the president often needs to exercise arbitrary 
power, in which case, Congress may suspend the 
writ on the ground of mihtary necessity. 

Under the EngHsh practice, the Legislative 
power often outlawed persons accused of crime, 
confiscated their property, and dishonored their 
descendants. 

3. An ex post facto law would be a law, for ex- 
ample, that punished John Doe for an offense com- 
mitted in 1908, under a law passed at a later date. 

4. Clause 6, is an echo of the trouble between 
States under the Articles of Confederation. New 
York at that time put a tax on garden produce from 
New Jersey. This feeling against outsiders still 
shows itself in local laws against peddlers, and in the 
agitation against the department store. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 47 

In many places the feeling is quite strong against 
people of a village buying goods outside of the vil- 
lage, on the ground that local dealers '^must live." 
Much of the opposition to inter-urban electric lines 
comes from this source. 



Section id. Clause i. "No State shall enter 
into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant 
letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit 
bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver 
coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of 
attainder, ex post jacto law, or law impairing the ob- 
ligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility." 

Clause 2. "No State shall, without the consent 
of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports 
or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary 
for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce 
of all duties and imposts laid by any State on imports 
or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the 
United States; and all such laws shall be subject to 
the revision and control of the Congress." 

Clause 3. "No State shall without the consent 
of Congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops 
or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agree- 
ment or compact with another State, or with a 
foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually in- 
vaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit 
of delay. 

I . Nearly all the prohibitions in Sections 9 and 10, 
came out of the sad experiences under the Confcdera- 



48 CIWL GOVERNMENT 

tion, when State clashed \\dth State, and when each 
State was a law unto itself. 

Contracts were made and repudiated; money is- 
sued and unredeemed, until confidence was almost 
destroyed. The Constitution restored confidence 
by taking the various primary government functions 
from the States, and placing them where they be- 
longed, in a stable central power. 

To-day much of the government money is so called 
^^fiat" money, but so great is the confidence of the 
people in the stability of the laws, that it is accepted 
with entire faith. 

Confidence is the rock of National prosperity, and 
indeed of National existence, and it is a conscious- 
ness of the stability of the Nation that makes a paper 
dollar of the United States good the world over. 

2. The most important point in Section lo, is the 
line referring to the matter of inspection. 

As the people increase in numbers, wealth and 
interests, there is a growing need that matters per- 
taining to the health and safety of the people be care- 
fully looked after. 

Men are busy in their own affairs and have neither 
the opportunity to examine carefully the articles they 
use, or foods they consume. If inferior articles can 
be sold under other names, if adulterated food can 
be sold as pure food, if poisonous drugs can be sold 
under innocent titles, if dangerous oils can be adver- 
tised as harmless, if tainted food can be advertised as 
wholesome — then there must be a serious loss and 
menace to the people. 

In 1906, the United States government passed a 



OF THE UNITED STATES 49 

Pure Food Law which punishes a person for selling 
certain drugs and foods so as to deceive by conceaHng 
their real nature. 

And nearly all of the States have inspection laws 
that punish for the sale of unbranded, or wrongly 
branded medicines, drugs and food products. But- 
ter, cheese, oil, alcohol, and meat usually come under 
the law. In the early stages of development men 
live under the doctrine — "Every man for himself," 
but as brotherhood grows wider, it grows also closer, 
and the spirit of service and concern sets up the more 
humane doctrine, "Each for all." 



50 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



Questions and Exercises, Article I, Sections 9 and 10 

1. Define the following: ex post facto, habeas corpus, treason, 
attainder. 

2. Why should Congress be forbidden to lay export duties? 

3. Under what circumstances may States lay export duties? 

4. What might happen if states could issue paper money, 
and make it legal tender? 

5. What is the reason for the prohibition in Section 9, 
Clause 8 ? 

6. Explain the necessity of a national meat-inspection law. 

7. What relation may the ''sweat shop" have to the spread 
of disease ? 

8. Through what channels are typhoid fever, and tuber- 
culosis spread ? 

9. Tell something you personally know to have been done 
to protect the public health. 

10. Justify laws that require children in the public schools 
to be inspected; that prohibit public drinking cups; that 
prohibit spitting in cars and public places. 

11. Why should the sale of candy, soda water, ice cream, 
baking powder and certain "tonics," be made a matter of public 
health ? 

12. Make a comparison of the necessity of inspection laws 
in 1850, and 1910; in rural places, and large cities. How 
may libraries spread disease? 

13. Upon what principle can you justify the requirement 
that engineers, ph}^sicians, and lawyers shall obtain a license 
before engaging in their business or profession. 

14. On some railroads you must furnish your own drink- 
ing cup. Why is this ? 

15. Should not each one be compelled to buy goods in his 
own town ? 

16. Ought not a man to trade with a merchant of his own 
Church, or Lodge? 

17. What is the great law of buying and selling ? 



Ill The Executive Power 

ARTICLE II 

Section i. Clause i. ^'The executive power 
shall be vested in a President of the United States of 
America. He shall hold his office during the term 
of four years, and, together with the Vice-President 
chosen for the same term, be elected as follows: 

Clause 2. ''Each State shall appoint, in such 
manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a num- 
ber of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators 
and Representatives to which the State may be 
entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Repre- 
sentative, or persons holding any office of trust or 
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an 
elector." 

Clause 3. (As amended by Twelfth Amendment.) 
"The electors shall meet in their respective States, 
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, 
one of whom at least shall not be an inhabitant of 
the same State with themselves; they sliall name 
in their ballots the person to be voted for as President, 
and in distinct ballots the person voted iov as Vice- 
President, and they shall make distinct lists of all 
persons voted for as President, and of all persc^ns 
voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of 
votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, 

SI 



52 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of 
the United States, directed to the President of the 
Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in pres- 
ence of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
open all the certificates and the votes shall then be 
counted. The person having the greatest number 
of votes for President shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed; and if no person have such majority, 
then from the persons having the highest number not 
exceeding three on the list of those voted for as Presi- 
dent, the House of Representatives shall choose 
immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choos- 
ing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, 
the representation from each State ha\'ing one vote; 
a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member 
or members from two-thirds of the States, and a 
majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose 
a President whenever the right of choice shall de- 
volve upon them, before the fourth day of March 
next following, then the Vice-President shall act as 
President, as in the case of the death or other Con- 
stitutional disability of the President. The person 
ha\dng the greatest number of votes as Vice-President 
shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; 
and if no person have a majority, then from the 
two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall 
choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the pur- 
pose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number 
of Senators, and a majority of the whole number 



OF THE UNITED STATES S3 

shall be necessary to a choice. But no person Con- 
stitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United 
States." 

Clause 5. ''No person except a natural-bom citi- 
zen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to 
the office of President; neither shall any person be 
eligible to that office, who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years 
a resident within the United States." 

Clause 6. ''In case of the removal of the President 
from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability 
to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, 
the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and 
the Congress may by law provide for the case of 
removal, death, resignation, or inability both of the 
President and Vice-President, declaring what officer 
shall then act as President, and such officer shall act 
accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a 
President shall be elected." 

Clause 7. "The President shall, at stated times, 
receive for his services a compensation which shall 
be neither increased nor diminished during the period 
for which he shall have been elected, and he shall 
not receive within that period any other emolument 
from the United States, or any of them/' 

Clause 8. "Before he enters on the execution of 
his office, he shall take the following oath or affirma- 
tion: 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith- 
fully execute the office of President of the United 



54 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, 
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United 
States." 

1. Let us consider the steps leading up to the 
nomination of the President: Each State according 
to its own method, and in accordance with the appor- 
tionment of the National Committee of each political 
party, selects delegates to the National Nominating 
Convention. The RepubHcan and Democratic parties 
usually choose t^\dce as many delegates as the State 
has electoral votes. In the Republican convention 
of 1908, Taft received on the first ballot 702 votes, 
and in the Democratic convention, Bryan received 
89 2 J votes. 

2. After the candidate for President is nominated 
there comes what is known as the "campaign." 
Then on the first Tuesday after the first ]\Ionday in 
November in an even year, is the "general election." 

a. Each State elects as many "Presidential elec- 
tors" as there are Congressional districts, and two 
"at large." 

The Electoral College then will have as many votes 
as the number of Senators and Representatives com- 
bined. After the election, the Electors meet in their 
several States, usually at the Capital, on the second 
Monday in January, and make out three separate 
lists for the President, and Vice-President. One is 
usually sent by mail to Congress, another by messen- 
ger, and the third is usually deposited with the Judge 
of the United States District Court in whose district 
the electors met. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 55 

On the second Wednesday in February, the votes 
are opened and read by the President of the Senate 
in the presence of both Houses of Congress, and the 
persons having the majority are declared to be 
President, and Vice-President, respectively. 

b. Congress has by law declared that in case there 
is no President or Vice-President, then the office shall 
descend in order down through the Cabinet: Secre- 
tary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of 
War, Attorney- General, Postmaster- General, Secre- 
tary of the Navy, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary 
of Agriculture, and Secretary of Commerce and 
Labor. 

The Cabinet officers hold office until the disability 
of the President or Vice-President is removed, or a 
President elected. 

Section 2. Clause i. ^'The President shall be 
commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the 
United States, and of the militia of the several States, 
when called into the actual service of the United 
States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of 
the principal officer in each of the executive depart- 
ments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their 
respective offices, and he shall have power to grant 
reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United 
States, except in cases of impeachment." 

Clause 2. "He shall have power, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, 
provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; 
and he sliall nominate, and by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassa- 



56 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

dors, other public ministers and consuls, judges 
of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the 
United States whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be estab- 
lished by law; but the Congress may by law vest 
the appointment of such inferior officers as they 
think proper in the President alone, in the courts of 
law, or in the heads of departments." 

Clause 3. ^'The President shall have power to 
fill up all vacancies that may happen during the 
recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which 
shall expire at the end of their next session." 

Section 3. "He shall from time to time give to 
the Congress such information of the State of the 
Union, and recommend to their consideration 
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; 
he may on extraordinary occasions convene both 
Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagree- 
ment between them, with respect to the time of 
adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time 
as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassa- 
dors and other public ministers; he shall take care 
that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall com- 
mission all of the officers of the United States." 

Section 4. ''The President, Vice-President, and 
all civil officers of the United States, shall be re- 
moved from office on impeachment for, and con- 
viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and 
misdemeanors." 



OF THE UNITED STATES 57 

I. The President is assisted in his administration 
of affairs by the various executive departments, the 
heads of which are called his "Cabinet." 

a. The Department of State has general charge 
of all foreign affairs. One of the important duties 
of the Department of State is the management of the 
iioo Representatives of the United States in the 
various foreign countries. The highest class of 
officers under the Consular service, are the Am- 
bassadors, or Ministers Plenipotentiary — these are 
sent to represent us in the leading countries of Europe. 
Then come the Envoys Extraordinary, who are sent 
to all the secondary nations of the world. Then 
come the Ministers-resident, and lastly the Consuls 
who are sent to all the cities of the world wherever 
they can be of service to Americans, or advance 
the interests of the United States. The Department 
of Consular service issues pamphlets called "Con- 
sular Reports" in which are given descriptions of 
foreign trade, manners, customs, and indeed they 
treat of every conceivable phase of foreign life that 
may have a commercial or scientific interest to the 
people of the United States. 

The Consular service is invaluable in protecting 
the rights of Americans abroad. 

b. Under the control of the Secretary of the 
Treasury comes the care of the finances of the 
country. ]\.Ioncy is paid out on the proper warrant, 
not only at Washington, but at the various sub- 
treasuries in tlie larger cities, and also at various 
banks throughout the Country, wliich arc designated 
as ''Public Depositories." 



5? CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

c. The Secretaries of War and Navy have general 
charge of military and naval affairs, and the supe- 
visions of the schools at West Point and Annapohs. 

d. The Attorney- General is the President's legal 
adviser, and represents the United States directly or 
indirectly in all suits which involve the United States. 
The chief interest now in the Department of Justice 
centers about its prosecution of Trusts, under the 
Anti-Trust law. 

e. The Postmaster- General has general charge 
of all matters connected mth the post-ofhce. 

/. The Secretary of the Interior has under his 
management the important business relating to In- 
dian affairs, the Public Lands, Pensions, and Educa- 
tion. 

g. The Department of Agriculture was created 
to further the agricultural interests of the country. 
It makes valuable experiments and publishes the 
result in pamphlets, which may be had for the ask- 
ing. It seeks to improve roads, increase animal life 
and power, furnishes farmers with seeds, and con- 
ducts the Weather Bureau. 

h. The Department of Commerce and Labor in- 
vestigates nearly all the questions relating to our 
social welfare, and probably comes as close to the 
real interests of the American people as any of the 
others. 

2. The treaty making power of the President is 
an important one, since treaties often involve the 
payment of large sums of money, the acquisition of 
territory, the change of boundaries, and the protec- 
tion of commercial and personal rights. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 59 

Treaties are usually managed by Ministers-Resident, 
Ambassadors, or Commissioners specially appointed. 
When treaties involve the mutual giving and taking 
of commercial rights, they are called ''Reciprocity" 
treaties. When it is agreed in a treaty to leave dis- 
putes to some tribunal for settlement they are called 
"Arbitration" treaties. In the treaties between 
countries there is usually a provision relative to the 
surrender of criminals escaping from either of the 
countries. This right or privilege is called "Extra- 
dition." If it were not for this, a criminal might be 
guilty of infamous crimes, and yet be beyond the 
power of arrest by fleeing to another country. Dur- 
ing the Civil War, when the United States were 
drafting soldiers, many men fled to Canada, where 
at that time, they were safe from arrest. 

3. When it is understood that the President makes 
thousands of appointments, most of which are to 
high and important offices, it can be seen that the 
power is an important one. 

It requires often great courage, and a clear under- 
standing of men and conditions. Great pressure is 
brought to bear upon him from high sources, and 
the Senators from the State to which the appointment 
is made, often defeat the confirmation in the Senate. 

He is helped, however, by the fact, that more and 
more, the secondary offices arc put under the control 
of heads of departments, and even in the higher offices 
appointments are made by competitive examina- 
tions under the laws of the civil service. 

There are about 353,000 positions under the Exec- 
utive Civil Service, more than half of which are un- 



6o CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

der competitive examination. The putting of an 
office under the Civil Service, is a great relief, not only 
to the President, but to Congressmen as well. When 
it does not result in offensive political activity among 
the incumbents, it usually results in an improvement 
of the government service. 

4. The pardoning power of the President relates 
only to the offenses committed against the laws of 
the United States, such as counterfeiting, robbing the 
mails, or violating the internal revenue laws, and the 
like. The pardoning power in all other cases is vested 
in the Governors of the various States, or in Pardoning 
Boards. 

5. There is no more important duty devolving 
upon the President than the general law enforcing 
power. It is his spirit that infuses itself down through 
all the departments. 

If he is vacillating, or weak, it appears in countless 
ways even to the remotest comers of the country. 

Strikes and mobs often call for the wisest and firm- 
est treatment. In no other office must the incumbent 
be so above self, above party, and even above nation, 
as in the Presidency. Hence it is that the young 
citizen must act wisely and intelligently in his vote 
for President of the United States. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 6 1 

Questions and Exercises, Article II 

1. Outline the steps that lead up to the nomination of the 
President of the United States. 

2. Suppose yourself to be a presidential elector; how would 
you be nominated, how elected, and what would you do after 
you were elected? 

3. Read Article II, Section 3, of the original Constitution, 
and then Amendment XII, and give at least three differences. 
In what sense is the original Constitution improved ? 

4. Under what circumstances does the House elect the 
President? And the Senate, the Vice-President? 

5. Give the Constitutional qualifications for President of 
the United States. 

6. The President now receives a salary of $75,000, and 
usually $25,000 for travelling expenses, and $50,000 for the 
care of the White House; do you think this too great a com- 
pensation ? Why ? 

7. What qualifications must a man have to be nominated 
for President ? Illustrate your answer by referring to Washing- 
ton, Jefferson, Lincoln, Grant, Roosevelt, and Taft. How 
was it in the case of Mr. Bryan? 

8. What is meant by the "Presidential succession" ? 

g. What military power has the President? What Presi- 
dents had been soldiers? 

10. What is the difference between a pardon, and a reprieve, 
and in what kind of offences may the President use his pardon- 
ing power? 

11. What is the "President's Message"? When is it 
given, and to whom ? 

12. Name the chief members of the President's C\ibinet, 
and give one duty under each department. 

13. What is a treaty? Name the kinds of treaties, and 
tell what things are specified in treaties. By wliom are they 
negotiated, and how are tliey confirmed? 

14. Tell, if you can, how the House may defeat a treaty. 
Article T, Section 7. 

15. What is the President's relation to foreign Ambassa- 
dors, to the adjournment of C\tngress, to the filling of vacancies? 



62 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

1 6. Discuss the importance and scope of the President's 
appointing power. 

1 7. What is the civil service ? How are appointments made 
under it ? 

18. What is the argument pro and con between the civil 
service, and the " spoils system ?" 

19. Give the grades of our "Representatives Abroad," 
and tell with what kind of matters each grade concerns itself. 

20. How are the "Consular Reports" a benefit to the 
United States ? 

21. To which of the Cabinet heads would you wTite for 

(a. ) Information relative to the Canadian fisheries ? 
(b.) The number of strikes in the United States? 
(c.) The market ratio between gold and silver? 
(d.) How to prepare for Annapolis ? 
(e.) The number of sweat shops in New York? 
(/.) Arguments on Postal Savings Banks? 
(g.) Tuberculosis in cattle? 
{h.) The location and price of United States land ? 
(i,) The data relative to the prosecution of trust 
law violations? 

22. Why is the general law enforcing power of the President 
an important one? In w^hat cases may the President's power 
be invoked? 

23. Why are Presidents never elected for three terms. Once 
men tried to nominate a celebrated military President for a 
third term; who was he? 

24. When was Taft elected President of the United States? 
(The student will likely not answer this correctly at first.) 

25. Explain why it is that a man may be elected president 
when he does not receive a majority of the popular vote ? 

26. In 1888, Cleveland received a greater popular vote than 
did Harrison, and yet Harrison was elected. Explain. 

27. At the general election the names of the party electors 
appear on all the party tickets voted, so that if the Democrats 
are in the majority, then all the Democratic electors are elected. 
But in 1896 Bryan received one vote in Kentucky, and Mc- 
Kinley 1 2 ; can you explain it. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 63 

28. Resolved, that the presidential term should be longer 
than the present limit of eight years. 

29. When the United States government made some of the 
Chicago street cars a part of the mail service, there was strong 
opposition to it on the part of labor leaders. Can you tell 
why? 

30. Suppose there were mob violence in your community; 
under what circumstance would each of the following be called 
upon to suppress it — the Sheriff, the Governor, the President? 
Read Article IV, Section 4. 

31. What things are forbidden to the United States in re- 
gard to financial affairs, commercial affairs and legal matters ? 

32. Name something a State can do that the United States 
cannot do. 

33. Name some things prohibited to both the United States, 
and the States separately. 

34. Think back over what you have studied thus far and 
state (i) what subject is most interesting to you, and (2) what 
subject comes the closest to your life and knowledge, and (3) 
of all the things studied which should be best understood by 
voters. 



IV The Judicial Power 

ARTICLE III 

Section i. ''The judicial power of the United 
States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and 
in such inferior courts as the Congress may from 
time to time ordain and estabHsh. The judges, both 
of the Supreme and Inferior Courts, shall hold their 
offices during good behavior, and shall at stated times 
receive for their services a compensation which shall 
not be diminished during their continuance in office." 

1. In order of the importance and extent of their 
juribdiction the regular courts of the United States 
are: 

a. The District Courts, about ninety in number, 
which are the courts in which the minor offences 
against the laws of the United States are tried. If 
a person should sell liquor to Indians he would be 
tried before the District Court in his District. 
Sometimes the whole State is the District, but when 
the State is large, it may have more. Texas has four 
Districts, New York six, Wisconsin two. 

h. Next higher than the District Courts are the 

Circuit Courts, nine in number, in which cases of 

greater magnitude are tried; matters concerning 

patents would come originally before this Court. 

64 



OF THE UNITED STATES 65 

To form the Circuits, States are grouped together, 
and at least once in two years, each Supreme Court 
Justice must preside over the Circuit to which he is 
assigned. There are many cases brought before 
the United States Courts and so there are often 
several Circuit judges for each Circuit. There are 
nine Circuits and twenty-nine Circuit judges. The 
seventh Circuit, of which Wisconsin is a part, has four 
justices. 

c. The highest Court of the United States is the 
Supreme Court, consisting of one Supreme Justice 
and eight associate Justices. 

d. In addition to these regular Courts, there is a 
Circuit Court of Appeals, which may review cases 
from the District and Circuit Courts, that would 
ordinarily go up to the Supreme Court. There is also 
a "Court of Claims," and a ''Court of Private Land 
Claims," and a "Supreme Court of the District of 
Columbia." 

2. "Although there have been more than fifty 
members of the Supreme Court, never has the per- 
sonal integrity of a single one been questioned." 

" One of the sights in Washington is the Supreme 
Court in session. The Court room is a solemn look- 
ing place. Nine venerable gentlemen in black robes 
sit quietly listening, while a single counsel addresses 
them, lliere is no haste in their proceedings, no 
noise or roar of the orator. It must not be supposed, 
however, that they are cold and destitute of sym- 
pathy, for no more genial body of men is gathered 
anywhere in the country, none more in sympathy 
with every effort to better human conditions." 



66 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

"Politically they are shelved; no brass band ever 
greets them at any place they may visit ; quietly and 
silently they work, and yet all realize that their work 
has a powerful influence on the life and destiny of the 
Republic . " — Justice Brewer 



Section 2. Clause 1, ''The judicial power shall 
extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under 
this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
authority; — to all cases affecting ambassadors, other 
pubHc ministers, and consuls; — to all cases of ad- 
miralty and maritime jurisdiction; — to controver- 
sies to which the United States shall be a party; — 
to controversies between two or more States ; — 
between a State and citizens of another State ; — be- 
tween citizens of different States — between citizens 
of the same State claiming lands under grants of differ- 
ent States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, 
and foreign States, citizens or subjects." 

Clause 2. "In all cases affecting ambassadors, 
other public ministers and consuls, and those in 
which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court 
shall have original jurisdiction." 

Clause 3. "In all the other cases before men- 
tioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate juris- 
diction, both as to law and fact, with such excep- 
tions, and under such regulations as the Congress 
shall make." 

Clause 4. "The trial of all crimes, except in 
cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such 



OF THE UNITED STATES 67 

trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes 
shall have been committed ; but when not committed 
within any State, the trial shall be at such place or 
places as the Congress may by law have directed." 

Section 3. Clause i. "Treason against the 
United States shall consist only in levying war against 
them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of 
treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to 
the same overt act, or on confession in open court." 

Clause 2. ''The Congress shall have power to 
declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder 
of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture 
except during the life of the person attainted. 

1. When the trial of a small offence begins in a 
court, the court is said to have ''original jurisdiction" ; 
when the offence has been tried in a lower court, and 
comes up to a higher court for re-trial, that court is 
said to have "appellate jurisdiction." Sometimes 
the decision of the lower court is reversed, sometimes 
confirmed, and though many cases may be "taken 
up" that are doubtless settled right in the first 
place, the right of appeal is supposed to be a step 
toward the furtherance of justice. 

2. "Not within any State" referred to in Section 
2, applies to territories organized and unorganized, 
government property and the "high seas." The 
"high seas" are the Great Lakes, and the waters of 
the ocean beyond the marine league. Crimes on 
shipboard are tried in the State where the vessel 
first arrives. 



68 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

3. If the student will read Articles V, VI, and 
VII, of the Amendments he will need to know that 
juries are of two kinds — "petit" and "Grand." 

The petit jury, usually twelve men, try the case, 
but a Grand Jury investigates the case to see if there 
is ground for an arrest. In State matters, the prose- 
cuting attorney usually takes the place of the Grand 
Jury. 

Where some crime is suspected, the Grand Jury 
sits in secret, and if the evidence warrants it, brings 
in what is called a "true biU," under which the ac- 
cused is arrested. If the evidence does not warrant 
the arrest, the foreman of the jury writes on the bill 
"Ignoramus" which means "not found." 



ARTICLE IV 

Section i. "Full faith and credit shall be given 
in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial 
proceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
may by general laws prescribe the manner in which 
such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, 
and the effect thereof." 

Section 2. Clause i. "The citizens of each 
State shall be entitled to all privileges and immuni- 
ties of citizens in the several States." 

Clause 2. "A person charged in any State with 
treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from 
justice and be found in another State, shall, on de- 
mand of the executive authority of the State from 



OF THE UNITED STATES 69 

which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the 
State having jurisdiction of the crime." 

Clause 3. "No person held to service or labor 
in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into 
another, shall, in consequence of any law or regu- 
lation therein, be discharged from such service or 
labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor may be due." 

Section 3. Clause i. "New States may be ad- 
mitted by the Congress into this Union; but no 
new State shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be 
formed by the junction of two or more States, or part 
of States, without the consent of the Legislature of 
the States concerned as well as of the Congress." 

Clause 2. "The Congress shall have power to dis- 
pose of and make all needful rules and regulations 
respecting the territory of other property belonging 
to the United States; and nothing in this Consti- 
tution shall be so construed as to prejudice any 
claims of the United States, or of any particular 
State." 

Section 4. Clause i. "The United States shall 
guarantee to every State in this Union a Republi- 
can form of government, and shall protect each of 
them against invasion, and on application of the 
Legislature, or of the executive (when the Legisla- 
ture cannot be convened), against domestic violence." 

1. It can be seen that if it were not for Section i, 
a man might legally own something in one State, 
but might not own it according to the laws of an- 



70 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

other. He might be married according to the laws 
of one State, but not married according to the laws 
of another. The student has doubtless read of 
people going to a State where divorce was easy, in 
order to be legally divorced in all the States. 

The tendency is now to make the laws of all the 
States more and more homogeneous. 

2. In Section 2, Clause i is the prohibition 
against a State making laws of one kind for citizens 
of the State, and laws of another kind for citizens of 
another State. Some States require from outsiders 
a heavier tax for hunting licenses than from their 
own citizens — and this is held by many to be a 
violation of Section 2. Sometime it is likely to be 
brought before the Supreme Court. 

3. When a person commits a crime in one State 
and flees to another, the Governor of the first State 
appKes to the Governor of the other State for "ex- 
tradition" appers, and if they are granted the proper 
officer of the second State, arrests the criminal and 
hands him over to the proper officer of the first State. 

Note the similarity of domestic and foreign extra- 
dition. 

4. Clause 3 refers to slaves, and is now obsolete. 
It was about these last two clauses that the fugitive 

slave law fight was waged. Were slaves property 
like horses, and could a slave-holder from the South 
bring his slaves as chattels into a free State ? " Yes," 
said the Supreme Court — "No," said the Spirit of 
Liberty and Progress. 

5. When a new State is to be admitted after an 
"enabling act" of Congress, the people at a conven- 



OF THE UNITED STATES 7 1 

tion, or by popular vote, adopt a Constitution. This 
is then submitted to Congress, and if it contains 
nothing contrary to the United States Constitution, 
a bill is prepared to admit the State into the Union. 
Sometimes the people of the State have a long fight 
over what their Constitution shall contain, and some- 
times Congress has required the Constitution sub- 
mitted, to be changed. The last State admitted was 
Oklahoma, November i6, 1907. The only terri- 
tories on the continent from which States can be 
made were in 1910 — Alaska, Arizona, and New 
Mexico. 

6. The original thirteen States are now but a 
small part of our great country. Some of the terri- 
tory was acquired by conquest, as in the case of 
Texas, but most of it by treaty and purchase. In 
recent years we have added territory which is known 
as the ^'Insular Possessions" of the United States. 

a. The Philippines, which are about twice the 
size of Wisconsin, are under the government of a 
'^Commission" and Governor appointed by the 
President of the United States, and a Legislative as- 
sembly chosen by the people. 

h. Porto Rico, area 3435 square miles, is under 
the government of a Governor, Commission, and a 
popular Legislature. 

c. Hawaii, area about 6000 square miles, was 
made a territory of the United States in 1898. It is 
represented in Congress by a Delegate, and has a 
Governor appointed by the President, and a Senate 
and House of Representatives elected by the people. 

d. An important addition to the land control of 



72 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

the United States is the "Panama Canal Zone," a 
strip of land purchased from Panama in 1904, five 
miles on either side of the canal. This zone is gov- 
erned by a Commission appointed by the President. 

7. When territory is purchased, the government 
makes a survey of the land by a system of base lines 
and prime meridians. The land is divided into 
townships six miles square. Thus it is seen that 
government survey precedes the organization of 
States, or Counties or Towns. The government may 
sell or grant the land it owns to the State, or to in- 
dividuals. In 19 10, there were more than 700,000,- 
000 acres of unsold United States lands, more than 
half of which, however, was in Alaska. 

It is been the generous policy of the United States 
Government when a State entered the Union, to give 
to the State for educational purposes large grants of 
land. Land also, by the millions of acres has been 
given to railroads. Until very recently men could 
settle on land under the ''Homestead Act," and at 
a merely nominal price acquire a farm. 

The poHcy of the government now, is to turn the 
proceeds of the PubHc Lands toward the irrigation 
of the arid lands of the West, and as a result vast 
tracts have been turned from a desert into a garden. 

Another beneficial policy recently initiated, is the 
Conservation of the vast mineral and forest wealth of 
the country. 

The States also have joined in the movement, and 
the forests that once were the country's wealth and 
pride, bid fair to grow again. 



OF THE UNITED STATES 73 

ARTICLE V 

"The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both 
Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
amendments to this Constitution, or, on the ap- 
plication of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the 
several States, shall call a convention for proposing 
Amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid 
to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitu- 
tion, when ratified by the Legislatures of three- 
fourths of the several States, or by conventions in 
three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode 
of ratification may be proposed by the Congress: 
Provided that no Amendment which may be made 
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 
Clauses in the ninth Section of the first Article; and 
that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived 
of its equal suffrage in the Senate." 

If the student wiU turn to the Amendments and 
read the first ten, he will see that they constitute a 
kind of "Bill of Rights." These Amendments were 
all adopted before 1792. 

Amendment XI was adopted in 1798 as a result 
of a suit brought against Georgia by a citizen of the 
United States. Under this Amendment a State may 
repudiate its just debts, as was done by some of 
the Southern States after the Civil Wixr. 

Amendment XIT was adopted in 1804, as a result 
of the long contest in the House over JetTerson's 
election. 

Amendments XIII and XIV and X\' were adopted 



74 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

in 1864, 1868, and 1870, as a result of the issues of 
the Civil War. 

It is a difficult matter now to amend the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and although thousands of 
Amendments have been proposed, none have car- 
ried. The next Amendment that will have some 
show of carrying, will Hkely relate to an income tax. 



ARTICLE VI 

Clause I. "All debts contracted and engagements 
entered into, before the adoption of this Constitu- 
tion, shall be as valid against the United States under 
this Constitution, as under the Confederation." 

Clause 2. "This Constitution, and the laws of 
the United States which shall be made in pursuance 
thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall be the 
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Consti- 
tution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith- 
standing." 

Clause 3. "The Senators and Representatives 
before mentioned, and the members of the several 
State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial 
officers, both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to sup- 
px)rt this Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever 
be required as a qualification to any office or public 
trust under the United States." 



OF THE UNITED STATES 75 

ARTICLE VII 

"The ratification of the Conventions of nine 
States shall be sufficient for the estabhshment of this 
Constitution between the States so ratifying the 



Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of 
the States present, the seventeenth day of Septem- 
ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independ- 
ence of the United States of America, the twelfth. 
In Witness Whereof, we have hereunto 
subscribed our names. 

Geo. Washington, 
President and Deputy from Virginia. 



76 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Questions on Articles III, IV, V, VI, and VII 

1. Give a brief account of the Judicial Power of the United 
States, giving the general and special courts. 

2. What is appellate, and original jurisdiction? 

3. What can you say of the dignity and importance of the 
Supreme Court? 

4. Give from your history, some case that was ever decided 
by the Supreme Court. 

5. Is the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court largely original, 
or appellate ? In what case has it original jurisdiction ? 

6. Define the ''High Seas." Who or what has jurisdiction 
beyond the marine league line ? 

7. What is the purpose, and organization of a grand Jury, 
a petit Jury? 

8. Discuss the importance of Article IV, Section i. 

9. Wisconsin taxes "non-resident" deer hunters more than 
her own citizens — is this not a violation of Section 2, Clause 
I? 

10. Show what is meant by foreign and domestic "ex- 
tradition." 

11. Turn to your history and find out, if you can, what point 
was involved in the "Dred Scott" decision. 

12. Tell the steps by which a new state is admitted to the 
Union. 

13. '^Ex post jacto^' laws are forbidden by the United States 
Constitution, and yet a like prohibition is found in the State 
Constitutions; w^hy is this necessary? 

14. Tell how each of the following was annexed to the 
United States: The Philippines, Texas, Hawaii, and Alaska. 

15. What is the difference, if any, in the relation of the fol- 
lowing to the United States: Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, 
Cuba, New Mexico ? 

16. Who surveys the public lands? What is done with 
the lands after they are sur\^eyed ? 

17. What is a township, a range, a section, a town? 

18. The general government has usually given Section 16 
of its public lands to the State for educational purposes. Why 
is Section 16 chosen? 



OF THE UNITED STATES 77 

19. Tell what the government is doing to-day to preserve 
its forests, and reclaim arid lands. 

20. How are amendments proposed, and what must be 
done to make them a part of the Constitution ? 

21. Why are many amendments proposed, and so few 
adopted ? 

22. When were the first ten amendments adopted, and 
what is their nature ? 

23. What is the substance and purpose of Amendment XIII ? 

24. What is the substance and purpose of Amendments 
XIV and XV? How are these amendments overcome in the 
South to-day? 

General Research Questions 

The student will likely not be able to answer all of these 
questions, but the effort to do it will be found beneficial. 

1. Why was the land question an obstacle in the way of 
uniting under a Constitution? 

2. Who was the President of the convention that adopted 
the Constitution? 

3. Who is the present Speaker of the House? In what 
controversy did the Speaker of the 61 st Congress bear a part? 

4. Why is the Senate called the ''upper house?" 

5. Define allegiance, and amnesty. What was done to the 
Southern leaders after the Civil War ? 

6. When is there "war" between nations? Who declares 
it, and how is it ended? 

7. Tell the different ways of voting, and why there are 
different methods. 

8. What are "belligerent rights"? 

9. What is a blockade? 

10. What is the Civil Service ? 

11. What is a veto, a "pocket veto"? 

12. Define a bill, a statute? Is there a dilTercncc between 
a law and a statute? 

13. What are letters of "Marque and Reprisal"? 

14. What is reconstruction? How did the Southern States 
get back into the Union? 



78 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



15 



Define vive voce, sine die, pro tempore. 



16. Give two other Latin phrases used in the Constitution. 

17. What is the "draft," "enlistment?" 

18. What is the "electoral college"? 

1 9 . What is the law of ' ' eminent domain ' ' ? 

20. What is meant by the "referendum" ? 

21. Define, "felony," "reciprocity," "filibustering." 

22. What is a pension, a copyright? 

23. It is said that a judge in Wisconsin once nullified a de- 
cision of the Supreme Court of the United States; who was it, 
and when ? 

24. Would it not be better if the metric system of weights 
and measures were the standards for the United States ? Illus- 
trate. 

25. W^hat is the "National Guard" of your State? 

26. Give one fact about the National Pure Food Law, and 
the National Meat Inspection Law. 

27. What is an Interstate Quarantine law? 

28. What has the United States to do with the railroads 
that run from State to State? What is a "safety appliance?" 

29. Name two things that the United States excludes from 
the mails. 

30. What relation does the general government bear to the 
American Indian? 

31. Sometimes you see a person wearing a Red Cross pin 
— what does the pin mean? 

32. In 1907 the President appointed a "National Conser- 
vation commission," what can such a commission do? 

33. What significance have the following? In 1900 the 
United States imported $850,000,000 worth of merchandise 
and exported $1,390,000,000. In 1909, imported $1,312,000,- 
000, and exported $1,700,000,000. In 1900, value of farm 
animals $2,229,000,000; in 1908, $4,332,000,000. 

34. Tell what the Interstate commerce law seeks to accom- 
plish. 

35. Compare the United States with other nations in regard 
to passports. 

36. What is a "free press," a "censorized" press? 



OF THE UNITED STATES 79 

37. Explain the relation tariff taxes and internal revenue 
taxes have on the price of the articles taxed. 

38. What is done at a Custom House? What is a smug- 
gler ? Why do many people justify smuggling ? 

39. What has been done about child labor during recent 
years ? What is your opinion about child labor ? 

40. What is a strike? A lockout? 

41. In 1 901, there was organized a National Civic Federa- 
tion consisting of the best men from the general public, employ- 
ers, and wage-earners. Give two or three great questions 
that this Federation will try to solve. 

42. What is a '^ Social Settlement"? Why are they neces- 
sary and what do they seek to do ? 

43. An investigation made by the United States shows 
that the average weekly wage in the New England cotton mills 
was $8.52; in the Southern cotton mills, $5.14; what signifi- 
cance has this? 

44. What is a labor organization, a wage scale, an 8 hour 
day, a union card ? 

45. What organizations do the following stand for: Y. M. 
C. A., G. A. R., S. O. v., D. R., W. R. C? 

46. What is a party platform, a plank? Who makes the 
National Platforms? 

47. What is the rate of first and second class mail matter? 
How should letters be addressed? 

48. What is the patent office, the Dead Letter office ? 

49. Where is there a National Park ? 

50. What is the significance of Arbor Day? 

51. Where is the longest canal in the United States ? What 
relation has this canal had to the development of the I'nited 
States ? 

52. What is a Fraternal Organization ? Name two or three. 

53. What and where is the Hall of Fame? 

54. The number of newspapers in the world is estimated 
at 60,000, of which the United States has about 21,000. What 
is the significance of this? 

55. Give some elements of our electrical adNance during 
the last twenty years. 



1 



8o CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

56. Name the five largest cities of the United States, and 
tell what problems the large city has to meet ? 

57. Name one cabinet officer of the United States. 

58. What is the legal railroad fare in your State ? 

59. What is the "Rhodes' Scholarship"? 

60. Which State produces the most soft coal, hard coal? 
In what part of the countr}' are there usually coal famines ? 

61. Which of the following subjects should the young stu- 
dent be best informed on: (a) The pure food law; (b) The 
duties of the President; (c) The matter of taxes; (d) Pro- 
hibitions on Congress; (e) Offences against United States 
laws; (/) The Interstate commerce commission; (g) Com- 
mercial relations internal and external ? 

62. Give a brief statement of the benefits to you of the 
study of Civil Government. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF 
THE STATE OF WISCONSIN 

(In 1846, October 5, the first Constitutional Convention met 
and framed a Constitution which was submitted to the people 
April 5, but was rejected by them. December 15, 1847, a 
second Constitutional Convention met and submitted a Con- 
stitution which was adopted by the people March 13, 1848. 

On May 29, 1848, after Congress had discussed and ap- 
proved the Constitution, Wisconsin was admitted to the 
Union.) 

PREAMBLE 

We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God, for our 
freedom; in order to secure its blessings, form a more per- 
fect government, insure domestic tranquillity and promote 
the general welfare; do establish this Constitution. 

ARTICLE I 

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS 

Section i. All men are born equally free and independent, 
and have certain inherent rights; among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness: to secure these rights govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed. 

Section 2. There shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
tary servitude in this State, othcrw iso than for the punishment 
of crime, whereof the partv shall have been duh- ciuivicted. 

8i 



82 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Section 3. Every person may freely speak, write and pub- 
lish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the 
abuse of that right, and no laws shall be passed to restrain or 
abridge the liberty of speech, or of the press. In all criminal 
prosecutions, or indictments for libel, the truth may be given 
in evidence, and if it shall appear to the jury, that the matter 
charged as libelous be true, and was published with good 
motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; 
and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and 
the fact. 

Section 4. The right of the people peaceably to assemble, 
to consult for the common good, and to petition the govern- 
ment, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged. 

Section 5. The right of trial by jury shall remain invio- 
late; and shall extend to all cases at law, without regard to the 
amount in controversy; but a jury trial may be waived by the 
parties in all cases, in the manner prescribed by law. 

Section 6. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor shall 
excessive fines be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
be inflicted. 

Section 7. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall 
enjoy the right to be heard by himself and counsel; to demand 
the nature and cause of the accusation against him; to meet 
the witnesses face to face; to have compulsory process to com- 
pel the attendance of witnesses in his behalf; and in prosecu- 
tions by indictment, or information, to a speedy public trial 
by an impartial jury of the county or district wherein the offence 
shall have been committed; which county or district shall have 
been previously ascertained by law. 

[Section 8. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal 
offence, unless on the presentment, or indictment of a Grand 
Jury, except in cases of impeachment, or in cases cognizable 
by Justices of the Peace, or arising in the Army, or Navy, or 
in the militia when in actual service in time of war, or public 
danger; and no person for the same offence shall be put twice 
in jeopardy of punishment, nor shall be compelled in any 
criminal case to be a witness against himself; all persons 
shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, ex- 



OF WISCONSIN 83 

cept for capital offences . . . when the proof is evident, 
or the presumption great; and the privilege of the writ of 
haheas-corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in cases of 
rebellion, or invasion, the public safety may require.] 

[Section 8, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 8, 1870.] 

Section 8. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal 
offense without due process of law, and no person, for the same 
offense, shall be put twice in jeopardy of punishment, nor 
shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against 
himself. All persons shall before conviction be bailable by 
Sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses when the proof 
is evident or the presumption great; and the privilege of the 
writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when in 
case of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 

Section 9. Every person is entitled to a certain remedy 
in the laws, for all injuries, or wrongs which he may receive 
in his person, property, or character: he ought to obtain 
justice freely, and without being obliged to purchase it com- 
pletely and without denial, promptly and without delay, con- 
formably to the laws. 

Section 10. Treason against the State shall consist only in 
levying war against the same or in adhering to its enemies, 
giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted 
of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the 
same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

Section ii. The right of the people to be secure in their 
persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable 
searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrants 
shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath, or 
affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
and the persons or things to be seized. 

Section 12. No bill of attainder, ex- post facto law, nor any 
law impairing the obligation of contracts shall ever be passed, 
and no conviction shall work corruption oi blood or forfeiture 
of estate. 

Section 13. The properly of no i)erson shall be taken 
for pu]:)lic use, without just compensation therefor. 



84 CIWL GOVERNMENT 

Section 14. All lands within the State are declared to be 
allodial, and feudal tenures are prohibited. — Leases and 
grants of agricultural land, for a longer term than fifteen years, 
in which rent, or service of any kind, shall be reserved, and all 
fines and like restraints upon alienation, reserved in any grant 
of land, hereafter made, are declared to be void. 

Section 15. No distinction shall ever be made by law be- 
tween resident aliens and citizens, in reference to the posses- 
sion, enjoyment or descent of property. 

Section 16. No person shall be imprisoned for debt, aris- 
ing out of, or founded on a contract, expressed or implied. 

Section 17. The privilege of the debtor to enjoy the neces- 
sary comforts of life, shall be recognized by wholesome laws, 
exempting a reasonable amount of property from seizure, or 
sale for the payment of any debt, or liability hereafter con- 
tracted. 

Section 18. The right of every man to worship Almighty 
God, according to the dictates of his own conscience, shall 
never be infringed; nor shall any man be compelled to attend, 
erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any minis- 
try against his consent; nor shall any control of, or interference 
with, the rights of conscience be permitted, or any preference 
be given by law to any religious establishments, or modes of 
worship; nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for 
the benefit of religious societies, or religious, or theological 
seminaries. 

Section 19. No religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification for any office of public trust under the State, 
and no person shall be rendered incompetent to give evidence 
in any court of law, or equity, in consequence of his opinions 
on the subject of religion. 

Section 20. The military shall be in strict subordination to 
the civil power. 

Section 2 1 . Writs of error shall never be prohibited by law. 

Section 22. The blessings of a free government can only 
be maintained by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, 
temperance, frugality and virtue, and by frequent recurrence 
to fundamental principles. 



OF WISCONSIN 85 



ARTICLE II 

Boundaries 

Section i. It is hereby ordained and decared, that the 
State of Wisconsin doth consent and accept of the boundaries 
prescribed in the act of Congress entitled "An act to enable 
the people of Wisconsin Territory to form a Constitution and 
State government, and for the admission of such State into 
the Union," approved August sixth, one thousand eight hundred 
and forty-six, to-wit : Beginning at the northeast corner of the 
State of Illinois — that is to say; at a point in the centre of 
Lake Michigan, where the line of forty-two degrees and thirty 
minutes of north latitude crosses the same; thence running 
with the boundary line of the State of Michigan, through Lake 
Michigan, Green Bay, to the mouth of the Menominee river; 
thence up the channel of the said river to the Brule river; thence 
up said last mentioned river to Lake Brule; thence along the 
southern shore of Lake Brule in a direct line to the centre of 
the channel between Middle and South Islands, in the Lake 
of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the head waters of the 
Montreal River, as marked upon the survey made by Captain 
Cramm ; thence down the main channel of the Montreal River 
to the middle of Lake Superior, thence through the centre of 
Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Louis River; thence up 
the main channel of said river to the first rapids in the same, 
above the Indian village, according to Nichollet's map; thence 
due south to the main branch of the river St. Croix; thence down 
the main channel of said river to the Mississippi; thence 
down the centre of the main channel of that river to the nortli- 
west corner of the State of Illinois; thence due east with the 
northern boundary of the State of Illinois to the place of be- 
ginning, as established by "an act to enable the people of the 
Illinois Territory to form a Constitutitin and State govern- 
ment, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an 
equal footing with the original States," approved April iS. 
1818. Provided, however, that the t\)llo\ving ;dteration of the 
aforesaid boundary be and hereb}' is proposed to the Congress 



86 CI\1L GOVERNMENT 

of the United States as the preference of the State of Wisconsin, 
and if the same shall be assented and agreed to by the Con- 
gress of the United States, then the same shall be and forever 
remain obligatory on the State of Wisconsin, viz. : Leaving 
the aforesaid boundary line at the foot of the rapids of the 
St. Louis River; thence in a direct line, bearing southwesterly, 
to the mouth of the Iskodewabo, or Rum River, where the 
same empties into the Mississippi River, thence down the main 
channel of the said Mississippi River as prescribed in the 
aforesaid boundary. 

Section 2. The proportions contained in the act of Con- 
gress are hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed, and shall 
remain irrevocable w^ithout the consent of the United States; 
and it is hereby ordained that this State shall never interfere 
with the primar}' disposal of the soil within the same by the 
United States, nor with any regulations Congress may find 
necessary for securing the title in such soil to bona-fide pur- 
chasers thereof: and no tax shall be imposed on land, the 
property of the United States, and in no case shall non-resident 
proprietors be taxed higher than residents. Provided, that 
nothing in this Constitution, or in the Act of Congress afore- 
said, shall in any manner prejudice, or affect the right of the 
State of Wisconsin to five hundred thousand acres of land, 
granted to said State, and to be hereafter selected and located 
by and under the Act of Congress entitled "An act to appro- 
priate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, and grant 
pre-emption rights, approved September fourth, one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-one. 

ARTICLE III 
Suffrage 

[Section i. Ever\^ male person of the age of twenty-one 
years or upwards, belonging to either of the following classes, 
who shall have resided in the State for one year next preceding 
any election, shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election: 

First. — White citizens of the United States. 



or WISCONSIN 87 

Second. — White persons of foreign birth who shall have 
declared their intention to become citizens, conformably to 
the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization. 

Third. — Persons of Indian blood who have once been de- 
clared by law of Congress to be citizens of the United States, 
any subsequent law of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Fourth. — Civilized persons of Indian descent, not members 
of any tribe: Provided, that the Legislature may at any time 
extend, by law, the right of suffrage to persons not herein enu- 
merated, but no such law shall be in force until the same shall 
have been submitted to a vote of the people at a general elec- 
tion, and approved by a majority of all the votes cast at such 
election.] 

[Section i , as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November, 7, 1882.] 

Section i. Every male person of the age of twenty-one 
years or upwards belonging to either of the following classes 
who shall have resided within the State for one year next pre- 
ceding any election, and in the election district where he offers 
to vote, such time as may be prescribed by the Legislature, not 
exceeding thirty days, shall be deemed a qualified elector at 
such election. 

1 . Citizens of the United States. 

2. Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their 
intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the 
United States on the subject of naturalization. 

3. Persons of Indian blood who have once been declared 
by law of Congress to be citizens of the United States, any 
subsequent law of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding. 

4. Civilized persons of Indian descent not members of any 
tribe; provided, that the Legislature may at any time extend 
by law the right of suffrage to persons not herein enumerated; 
but no such law shall be in force until the same shall have been 
submitted to a vote of the })eople at a general election and ap- 
proved by a majority of all the votes cast at such election; and 
pr(>\ided further, that in incorporated cities and \illages, the 
Legislature may provide for the registration of electors and pre- 
scribe proper rules and regulations therefor. 



SS CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Section 2. No person under guardianship, non-compos 
mentis, or insane, shall be qualified to vote at any election; nor 
shall any person convicted of treason, or felony, be qualified 
to vote at any election, unless restored to civil rights. 

Section 3. All votes shall be given by ballot, except for 
such township officers as may by law be directed, or allowed 
to be other^vise chosen. 

Section 4. No person shall be deemed to have lost his 
residence in this State, by reason of his absence on business 
of the United States, or of this State. 

Section 5. No soldier, seaman, or marine in the army or 
navy of the United States, shall be deemed a resident of this 
State, in consequence of being stationed within the same. 

Section 6. Laws may be passed excluding from the right 
of suffrage all persons who have been or may be convicted of 
bribery, or larceny, or of any infamous crime, and depriving 
every person who shall make, or become directly, or indirectly 
interested, in any bet or wager depending upon the result of 
any election, from the right to vote at such election. 



ARTICLE IV 

legislative 

Section i. The Legislative power shall be vested in a 
Senate and Assembly. 

Section 2. The number of the members of the Assembly 
shall never be less than fifty-four, nor more than one hundred. 
The Senate shall consist of a number not more than one-third, 
nor less than one-fourth of the number of the members of the 
Assembly. 

Section 3. The Legislature shall provide by law for an 
enumeration of the inhabitants of the State in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, and at the end of every 
ten years thereafter; and at their first session after such enu- 
meration, and also after each enumeration made by the au- 
thority of the United States, the Legislature shall apportion 



OF WISCONSIN 89 

and district anew the members of the Senate and Assembly, 
according to the number of inhabitants, excluding Indians 
not taxed, and soldiers and officers of the United States Army 
and Navy. 

[Section 4. The members of the Assembly shall be chosen 
annually by single districts, on the Tuesday succeeding the 
first Monday of November, by the qualified electors of the 
several districts. Such districts to be bounded by county, pre- 
cinct, town, or ward lines, to consist of contiguous territory, 
and be in as compact form as practicable.] 

[Section 4, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 8, 1881.] 

Section 4. The members of the assembly shall be chosen 
biennially, by single districts, on the Tuesday succeeding the 
first Monday of November, after the adoption of this amend- 
ment, by the qualified electors of the several districts; such 
districts to be bounded by county, precinct, town or ward 
lines, to consist of contiguous territory, and be in as compact 
form as practicable. 

[Section 5. The Senators shall be chosen by single districts 
of convenient contiguous territory, at the same time and in the 
same manner as members of the Assembly are required to be 
chosen, and no Assembly district shall be divided in the forma- 
tion of a Senate district. The Senate districts shall be num- 
bered in regular series, and the Senators chosen by the odd- 
numbered districts shall go out of office at the expiration of the 
first year, and the Senators chosen by the e\'en-numbered dis- 
tricts shall go out of office at the expiration of the second year, 
and thereafter the Senators shall be chosen for the term of two 
years.] 

[Section 5, as amended by a vote of the peo})lc at the General 
Election, November 8, 1881.] 

Section 5. The Senators shall be elected by single districts 
of convenient contiguous territor\', at the same time and in the 
same manner as members of the Assomblx- are rec|uired to be 
chosen, and no Assembly district shall be divided in the fc^rma- 
tion of a Senate district. The Senate districts shall be num- 
bered in the regular series and the Senators shall be chosen 



90 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

alternately from the odd and even-numbered districts. The 
Senators elected, or holding over at the time of the adoption 
of this amendment, shall continue in office till their successors 
are duly elected and qualified; and after the adoption of this 
amendment, all Senators shall be chosen for the term of four 
years. 

Section 6. No person shall be eligible to the Legislature 
who shall not have resided one year within the State, and be 
a qualified elector in the district which he may be chosen to 
represent. 

Section 7. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, 
returns and qualifications of its own members; and a majority 
of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller 
number may adjourn from day to day, and may comp)el the 
attendance of absent members in such manner and under such 
penalties as each house may provide. 

Section 8. Each house may determine the rules of its own 
proceedings, punish for contempt and disorderly behavior, 
and with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members 
elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled 
a second time for the same cause. 

Section 9. Each house shall choose its own officers and 
the Senate shall choose a temporary president, when the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor shall not attend as president, or shall act as 
Governor. 

Section 10. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceed- 
ings and publish the same, except such parts as require secrecy. 
The doors of each house shall be kept open except when the 
public welfare shall require secrecy. Neither house shall, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three 
days. 

[Section 1 1 . The Legislature shall meet at the seat of govern- 
ment, at such time as shall be provided by law, once in each 
year, and not oftener, unless convened by the Governor.] 

[Section 11, as amended by a vote of the people at the 
General Election, November 8, 1881.] 

Section ii. The Legislature shall meet at the seat of 
government at such time as shall be provided by law, once in 



OF WISCONSIN 91 

two years and no oftener, unless convened by the Governor 
in special session, and when so convened no business shall be 
transacted except as shall be necessary to accomplish the special 
purposes for which it was convened. 

Section 12. No member of the Legislature shall, during 
the term for which he was elected, be appointed or elected to 
any civil office in the State, which shall have been created, or 
the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during 
the term for which he was elected. 

Section 13. No person being a member of Congress, or 
holding any military or civil office under the United States, 
shall be eligible to a seat in the Legislature and if any person 
shall, after his election as a member of the Legislature, be 
elected to Congress, or be appointed to any office, civil or mili- 
tary, under the government of the United States, his acceptance 
thereof shall vacate his seat. 

Section 14. The Governor shall issue writs of election to 
fill such vacancies as may occur in either house of the Legis- 
lature. 

Section 15. Members of the Legislature shall in all cases, 
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged 
from arrest; nor shall they be subject to any civil process, dur- 
ing the session of the Legislature, nor for fifteen days next be- 
fore the commencement and after the termination of each 
session. 

Section 16. No member of the Legislature shall be liable 
in any civil action or criminal prosecution whatever, for words 
spoken in debate. 

Section 17. The style of the laws of the State shall be 
''The people of the State of Wisconsin, represented in Senate 
and Assembly, do enact as follows" : and no law shall be enacted 
except by bill. 

Section 18. No private or local bill which may be passed 
by the Legislature shall embrace more than one subject, and 
that shall be expressed in the title. 

Section 19. Any bill may originate in either house of the 
Legislature, and a bill passed by one house may be amended 
by the other. 



92 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Section 20. The yeas and nays of the members of either 
house, on any question shall, at the request of one-sixth of those 
present, be entered on the journal. 

[Section 21. Each member of the Legislature shall recei\e 
for his services two dollars and fifty cents for each day's attend- 
ance during the session, and ten cents for every mile he shall 
travel in going to and returning from the place of the meeting 
of the Legislature on the most usual route.] 

[Section 21, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 8, 1881.] 

Section 21. Each member of the Legislature shall receive 
for his sendees, for and during a regular session, the sum of 
five hundred dollars, and ten cents for every mile he shall 
travel in going to and returning from the place of meeting 
of the Legislature on the most usual route. In case of an ex- 
tra session of the Legislature, no additional compensation shall 
be allowed to any member thereof, either directly or indirectly, 
except for mileage to be computed at the same rate as for a 
regular session. No stationery, newspapers, postage or other 
perquisite, except the salary and mileage above provided, shall 
be received from the State by any member of the Legislature 
for his services, or in any other manner a such member. 

Section 22. The Legislature may confer upon the boards 
of supervisors of the several counties of the State, such powers 
of a local, legislative, and administrative character as they shall 
from time to time prescribe. 

Section 23. The Legislature shall establish but one system 
of town and county government which shall be as nearly uni- 
form as practicable. 

Section 24. The Legislature shall never authorize any 
lottery or grant any divorce. 

Section 25. The Legislature shall provide by law, that all 
stationery required for the use of the State, and all printing 
authorized and required by them to be done for their use, or 
for the State, shall be let by contract to the lowest bidder, but 
the Legislature may establish a maximum price; no member 
of the Legislature, or other State officer shall be interested, 
either directly or indirectly, in any such contract. 



OF WISCONSIN 93 

Section 26. The Legislature shall never grant any extra 
compensation to any public officer, agent, servant, or con- 
tractor, after the services shall have been rendered or the con- 
tract entered into; nor shall the compensation of any public 
officer be increased, or diminished, during his term of office. 

Section 27. The Legislature shall direct by law in what 
manner and in what courts, suits may be brought against the 
State. 

Section 28. Members of the Legislature, and all officers, 
executive and judicial, except such inferior officers as may be 
by law exempted, shall before they enter upon the duties of 
their respective offices, take and subscribe an oath, or affirma- 
tion, to support the Constitution of the United States, and the 
Constitution of the State of Wisconsin, and faithfully to dis- 
charge the duties of their respective offices to the best of their 
ability. 

Section 29. The Legislature shall determine what per- 
sons shall constitute the militia of the State, and may provide 
for organizing and disciplining the same in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. 

Section 30. In all elections to be made by the Legislature, 
the members thereof shall vote viva-voce, and their votes shall 
be entered on the journal. 

[Sections 31 and 32, as amended by a vote of the people at 
the General Election, Noevember 7, 1871, and amendment to 
Section 31, adopted November 8, 1892.] 

Section 31. The Legislature is prohibited from enacting 
any special or private laws in the following cases: ist. For 
changing the name of persons or constituting one person the 
heir-at-law of another. 2d. For la}ing out, opening or alter- 
ing highways except in cases of State roads extending into 
more than one county, and military roads to aid in the con- 
struction of which lands may be granted by Congress. 3d. 
For authorizing persons to keep ferries across streams, at points 
wholly within this state. 4th. For authorizing the sale or 
mortgage of real or personal property of minors or others 
under disability. 5th. For locating or cluinging any county 
seat. 6th. For assessment or collection of taxes or for extend- 



94 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

ing the time for collection thereof. 7th. For granting corpor- 
ate powers or privileges, except to cities. 8th. For authoriz- 
ing the apportionment of any part of the school fund. 9th. 
For incorporating any city, town or village, or to amend the 
charter thereof. 

Section 32. The Legislature shall provide general laws 
for the transaction of any business that may be prohibited by 
section thirty-one of this article, and all such laws shall be uni- 
form in their operations throughout the State. 



ARTICLE V 

EXECUTIVE 

Section i. The Executive power shall be vested in a Gov- 
ernor, who shall hold his office for two years; a Lieutenant- 
Governor shall be elected at the same time, and for the same 
term. 

Section 2. No person except a citizen of the United States, 
and a qualified elector of the State, shall be eligible to the office 
of Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor. 

Section 3. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor shall 
be elected by the qualified electors of the State at the time and 
places of choosing members of the Legislature. The persons 
respectively having the highest number of votes for Governor 
and Lieutenant-Governor, shall be elected; but in case two 
or more shall have an equal and the highest number of votes 
for Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor, the two houses of the 
Legislature, at its next annual session, shall forthwith, by 
joint ballot, choose one of the persons so having an equal and 
the highest number of votes, for Governor, or Lieutenant- 
Governor. The returns of election for Governor and Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, shall be made in such manner as shall be 
provided by law. 

Section 4. The Governor shall be Commander-in-Chief 
of the Military and Naval forces of the State. He shall have 
power to convene the Legislature on extraordinary occasions. 



OF WISCONSIN 95 

and in case of invasion, or danger from the prevalence of 
contagious disease at the seat of government, he may con- 
vene them at any other suitable place within the State. He 
shall communicate to the Legislature, at every session, the con- 
dition of the State; and recommend such matters to them 
for their consideration as he may deem expedient. He shall 
transact all necessary business with the officers of the govern- 
ment, civil and military. He shall expedite all such measures 
as may be resolved upon by the Legislature, and shall take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed. 

[Section 5. The Governor shall receive during his continu- 
ance in office, an annual compensation of one thousand two 
hundred and fifty dollars.] 

[Section 5, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 2, 1869.] 

Section 5. The Governor shall receive, during his con- 
tinuance in office, an annual compensation of five thousand 
dollars which shall be in full for all traveling or other expenses 
incident to his duties. 

Section 6. The Governor shall have power to grant re- 
prieves, commutations and pardons after conviction, for all 
offences, except treason and cases of impeachment, upon such 
conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as he 
may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be pro- 
vided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. 
Under conviction for treason, he shall have the power to sus- 
pend the execution of the sentence, until the case shall be re- 
ported to the Legislature at its next meeting, when the Legis- 
lature shall either pardon, or commute the sentence, direct 
the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He 
shall annually communicate to the Legislature each case of 
reprieve, commutation or pardon granted, stating the name 
of the convict, the crime of which he was convicted, the sen- 
tence and its date, and the date of the commutation, pardon 
or reprieve, with his reasons for granting the same. 

Section 7. In case of the impeachment of the Governor, 
or his removal from office, death, inability from mental or 
physical disease, resignation, or absence from the State, the 



96 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor for the residue of the term, or until the Gov- 
ernor, absent or impeached, shall have returned, or the dis- 
ability shall cease. But when the Governor shall, with the 
consent of the Legislature, be out of the State in time of War, 
at the head of the Military force thereof, he shall continue 
Commander-in-Chief of the Military force of the State. 

Section 8. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be President of 
the Senate, but shall have only a casting vote therein. If, dur- 
ing a vacancy in the office of Governor, the Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor shall be impeached, displaced, resign, die, or from mental 
or physical disease become incapable of performing the duties 
of his oflbLce, or be absent from the State, the Secretary of State 
shall act as Governor, until the vacancy shall be filled, or the 
disability shall cease. 

[Section 9. The Lieutenant-Governor shall receive double 
the per-diem allowance of members of the Senate for every 
day's attendance as President of the Senate, and the same 
mileage as shall be allowed to members of the Legislature.] 

[Section 9, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 2, 1869.] 

Section 9. The Lieutenant-Governor shall receive, during 
his continuance in office, an annual compensation of one 
thousand dollars. 

Section 10. Every bill which shall have passed the Legis- 
lature shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Gov- 
ernor; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return 
it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have origi- 
nated, who shall enter the objections at large upon the journal 
and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration 
two-thirds of the members present shall agree to pass the bill, 
it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, 
by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by 
two-thirds of the members present, it shall become a law. But 
in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined 
by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for or 
against the bill, shall be entered on the journal of each house 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Gov- 



OF WISCONSIN 97 

ernor within three days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, unless the Legis- 
lature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which 
case it shall not be a law. 



ARTICLE VI 

ADMINISTRATIVE 

Section i. There shall be chosen by the qualified electors 
of the State, at the times and places of choosing the members 
of the Legislature, a Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney- 
General, who shall severally hold their offices for the term of 
two years. 

Section 2. The Secretary of State shall keep a fair record 
of the official acts of the Legislature and Executive depart- 
ment of the State, and shall, when required, lay the same and 
all matters relative thereto, before either branch of theLegisla- 
ture. He shall be ex officio Auditor and shall perform such 
other duties as shall be assigned him by law. He shall receive 
as a compensation for his services yearly, such sum as shall be 
provided by law, and shall keep his office at the seat of govern- 
ment. 

Section 3. The powers, duties and compensation of the 
Treasurer and Attorney- General shall be prescribed by law. 

[Section 4. Sheriffs, Coroners, Registers of Deeds and Dis- 
trict Attorneys shall be chosen by the electors of the respective 
counties, once in every two years, and as often as vacancies 
shall happen; Sheriffs shall hold no other office, and be in- 
eligible for two years next succeeding the termination of their 
offices. They may be required by law, to renew their security 
from time to time; and in default of giving such new security, 
their offices shall be deemed vacant. But the county shall 
never be made responsible for the acts of the ShcritT. The 
Governor may remove any officer in this section mentioned, 
giving to such officer a copy of the charges against him, and an 
opportunity of being heard in his defence.] 



98 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

[Section 4, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 7, 1882.] 

Section 4. Sheriffs, coroners, registers of deeds, district 
attorneys, and all other county officers except judicial officers, 
shall be chosen by the electors of the respective counties, once 
in every two years. Sheriffs shall hold no other office, and be 
ineligible for tv\^o years next succeeding the termination of 
their offices; they may be required by law to renew their se- 
curity from time to time, and in default of giving such new 
security their office shall be deemed vacant; but the county 
shall never be made responsible for the acts of the Sheriff. The 
Governor may remove any officer in this section mentioned, 
giving to such a copy of the charges against him and an oppor- 
tunity of being heard in his defense. All vacancies shall be 
filled by appointment; and the person appointed to fill a 
vacancy shall hold only for the unexpired portion of the term 
to which he shall be appointed and until his successor shall be 
elected and qualified. 

ARTICLE VII 

JUDICIARY 

Section i. The court for the trial of impeachments shall 
be composed of the Senate. The House of Representatives 
shall have the power of impeaching all civil officers of this State, 
for corrupt conduct in office, or for crimes and misdemeanors; 
but a majority of all the members elected shall concur in an 
impeachment. On the trial of an impeachment against the 
Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor shall not act as a member 
of the court. No judicial officer shall exercise his office, after 
he shall have been impeached, until his acquittal. Before 
the trial of an impeachment, the members of the court shall 
take an oath or affirmation, truly and impartially to try the 
impeachment according to evidence; and no person shall be 
convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the mem- 
bers present. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not 
extend further than to removal from office, or removal from 



OF WISCONSIN 99 

office and disqualification to liold any office of honor, profit, 
or trust under the State; but the party impeached shall be 
liable to indictment, trial, and punishment according to law. 

Section 2. The judicial power of this State, both as to 
matters of law and equity, shall be vested in a Supreme Court, 
Circuit courts, Courts of Probate, and in Justices of the Peace. 
The Legislature may also vest such jurisdiction as shall be 
deemed necessary in municipal courts, and shall have power 
to establish inferior courts in the several counties, with limited 
civil and criminal jurisdiction. Provided, that the jurisdiction 
which may be vested in municipal courts, shall not exceed, 
in their respective municipalities, that of Circuit Courts in their 
respective circuits, as prescribed in this Constitution. And that 
the Legislature shall provide as well for the election of Judges 
of the Municipal courts as of the Judges of inferior courts, by 
the qualified electors of the respective jurisdictions. The 
term of office of the judges of the said Municipal and inferior 
courts shall not be longer than that of the Judges of the circuit 
court. 

Section 3. The Supreme court, except in cases otherwise 
provided in this Constitution, shall have appellate jurisdiction 
only, which shall be co-extensive with the State; but in no 
case removed to the Supreme Court shall a trial by jury be 
allowed. The Supreme Court shall have a general superintend- 
ing control over all inferior courts; it shall have power to is- 
sue writs of habeas corpus, mandavuis, injunction, quo war- 
ranto, certiorari: and other original and remedial writs, and to 
hear and determine the same. 

[Section 4. For the term of five years, and thereafter until 
the Legislature shall otherwise provide, the judges of the several 
circuit courts shall be judges of the Supreme Court, four of 
whom shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of a 
majority of the judges present shall be necessar)- to a decision. 
The Legislature shall have power, if they should think it ex- 
pedient and necessary, to provide by law for the organization 
of a separate Supreme Court, with the jurisdiction and powers 
prescribed in this Constitution, to consist of one chief justice 
aiui two associate justices, to be elected by the qualitied electors 



lOO CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

of the State, at such time and in such manner as the Legislature 
may provide. The separate Supreme court when so organized, 
shall not be changed or discontinued by the Legislature: the 
judges thereof shall be so classified that but one of them shall 
go out of ofl&ce at the same time; and their term of office shall 
be the same as is provided for the judges of the circuit court. 
And whenever the Legislature may consider it necessary- to 
establish a separate Supreme court, they shall have power to 
reduce the number of circuit court judges to four and sub- 
divide the judicial circuits, but no such subdivision or reduc- 
tion shall take effect until after the expiration of the term of 
some one of said judges, or till a vacancy occur by some other 
means.] 

[Section 4, as amended bv a vote of the people at an election 
held x\pril 2, 1889.] 

Section 4. The chief justice and associate justices of the 
Supreme Court shall be severally known as justices of said 
court with the same terms of office, respectively, as now pro- 
vided. The Supreme Court shall consist of five justices (any 
three of whom shall be a quorum), to be elected as now pro- 
vided. The justice having been longest a continuous member 
of the court (or in case of two or more of such senior justices 
having served for the same length of time, then the one whose 
commission first expires), shall be ex officio the chief justice. 

Section 5. The State shall be divided into five judicial 
circuits, to be composed as follows: The first circuit shall 
comprise the counties of Racine, Walworth, Rock and Green; 
the second circuit the counties of Mihvaukee, Waukesha, 
Jefferson and Dane; the third circuit, the counties of Washing- 
ton, Dodge, Columbia, Marquette, Sauk and Portage; the 
fourth circuit, the counties of Brown, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, 
Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Calumet; and the fifth circuit 
shall comprise the counties of Iowa, La Fayette, Grant, Craw- 
ford and St. Croix; and the county of Richland shall be at- 
tached to Iowa, the county of Chippewa to the county of Craw- 
ford, and the county of La Pointe to the county of St. Croix for 
judicial purposes until otherwise provided by the Legislature. 

Section 6. The Legislature may alter the limits, or increase 



OF WISCONSIN lOI 

the number of circuits, making them as compact and convenient 
as practicable, and bounding them by county lines; but no such 
alteration or increase shall have the effect to remove a judge 
from office. In case of an increase of circuits, the judge or 
judges shall be elected as provided in this Constitution and 
receive a salary not less than that herein provided for the judges 
of the circuit court. 

[Section 7. For each circuit there shall be a judge chosen 
by the qualified electors therein, who shall hold his office as 
is provided in this Constitution, and until his successor shall be 
chosen and qualified; and after he shall have been elected, 
he shall reside in the circuit for which he was elected. One of 
said judges shall be designated as chief justice in such manner 
as the Legislature shall provide. And the Legislature shall 
at its first session provide by law as well for the election of, as 
for classifying the judges of the circuit court to be elected 
under this Constitution, in such manner that one of said judges 
shall go out of office in two years, one in three years, one in 
four years, one in five years and one in six years, and there- 
after the judge elected to fill the office shall hold the same for 
six years.] 

[Section 7, as amended by a vote of the people at an election 
held April 6, 1897.] 

Section 7. For each circuit there shall be chosen by the 
qualified electors thereof, one circuit judge, except that in any 
circuit composed of one county only, which county shall con- 
tain a population according to the last state or United States 
census, of one hundred thousand inhabitants or over, the 
Legislature may, from time to time, authorize additional cir- 
cuit judges to be chosen. Every circuit judge shall reside in 
the circuit from which he is elected, and shall hold his office 
for such term and receive such compensation as the Legislature 
shall prescribe. 

Section 8. The circuit courts shall have original jurisdic- 
tion in all matters civil and criminal within this State, not ex- 
cepted in this Constitution, and not hereafter prohibited by law; 
and appellate jurisdiction from all inferior courts and tribunals 
and a supervisory control over the same. They shall also have 



I02 Cl\nL GOVERNMENT 

the power to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, injunc- 
tion, quo warranto, certiorari, and all other writs necessary to 
carry into effect their orders, judgments and decrees, and give 
them a general control over inferior courts and jurisdictions. 

Section 9. When a vacancy shall happen in the office of 
judge of the Supreme or Circuit courts, such vacancy shall be 
filled by an appointment of the Governor, vxhich shall continue 
until a successor is elected and qualified; and when elected 
such successor shall hold his office the residue of the unexpired 
term. There shall be no election for a judge or judges at any 
general election for State or county officers, nor within thirty 
days either before or after such election. 

Section 10. Each of the judges of the Supreme and circuit 
courts shall receive a salary, payable quarterly, of not less than 
one thousand five hundred dollars annually; they shall re- 
ceive no fees of office, or other compensation than their salaries; 
they shall hold no office of public trust, except a judicial office, 
during the term for which they are respectively elected, and all 
votes for either of them for any office, except a judicial office, 
given by the Legislature or the people, shall be void. No per- 
son shall be eligible to the office of judge, who shall not, at the 
time of his election, be a citizen of the United States, and have 
attained the age of twenty-five years, and be a qualified elector 
within the jurisdiction for which he may be chosen. 

Section ii. The Supreme Court shall hold at least one 
term, annually, at the seat of government of the State, at such 
time as shall be provided by law. And the Legislature may 
provide for holding other terms, and at other places when they 
may deem it necessary. A Circuit Court shall be held, at least 
twice in each year, in each county of this State organized for 
judicial purposes. The judges of the circuit court may hold 
courts for each other, and shall do so when required by law. 

[Section 12. There shall be a clerk of the Circuit Court 
chosen in each county organized for judicial purposes, by the 
qualified electors thereof, who shall hold his office for two 
years, subject to removal, as shall be provided by law. In 
case of a vacancy, the judge of the Circuit Court shall have the 
power to appoint a clerk until the vacancy shall be filled by an 



OF WISCONSIN 103 

election. The clerk thus elected or appointed shall give such 
security as the Legislature may require; and when elected 
shall hold his office for a full term. The Supreme Court shall 
appoint its own clerk, and the clerk of a Circuit Court may be 
appointed clerk of the Supreme Court.] 

[Section 12, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 7, 1882.] 

Section 12. There shall be a clerk of the Circuit Court 
chosen in each county organized for judicial purposes by the 
qualified electors thereof, who shall hold his office for two years, 
subject to removal as shall be provided by law; in case of a 
vacancy the judge of the Circuit Court shall have power to ap- 
point a clerk until the vacancy shall be filled by an election; 
the clerk thus elected or appointed shall give such security as 
the Legislature may require. The Supreme Court shall ap- 
point its own clerk; and a clerk of the Circuit Court may be 
appointed a clerk of the Supreme Court. 

Section 13. Any judge of the Supreme or Circuit Court 
may be removed from office, by address of both houses of the 
Legislature, if two-thirds of all the members elected to each 
house concur therein, but no removal shall be made by virtue 
of this section, unless the judge complained of shall have been 
served with a copy of the charges against him, as the ground of 
address, and shall have had an opportunity of being heard in 
his defence. On the question of removal, the ayes and noes 
shall be entered on the journals. 

Section 14. There shall be chosen in each county, by the 
qualified electors thereof, a Judge of Probate, who shall hold 
his office for two years, and until his successors shall be elected 
and qualified, and whose jurisdiction, powers and duties shall 
be prescribed by law. Provided, however, that the Legislature 
shall have power to abolish the office of Judge of Probate in 
any county, and to confer Probate powers upon such inferior 
courts as may be established in said count\-. 

Section 15. The electors of the several towns, at their 
annual town meeting, and the electors of cities and villages, 
at their charter elections, shall in such manner as the Legis- 
lature may direct, elect justices of the peace, whose tonn of 



I04 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

office shall be for two years, and until their successors in office 
shall be elected and qualified. In case of an election to fill a 
vacancy, occurring before the expiration of a full term, the 
justice elected shall hold for the residue of the unexpired term. 
Their number and classification shall be regulated by law. 
And the tenure of two years shall in no wise interfere with the 
classification in the first instance. The justices, thus elected, 
shall have such ci^il and criminal jurisdiction as shall be pre- 
scribed by law. 

Section i6. The Legislature shall pass laws for the regu- 
lation of tribunals of conciliation, defining their powers and 
duties. Such tribunals may be established in and for any town- 
ship, and shall have power to render judgment to be obligatory 
on the parties, when they shall voluntarily submit their matter 
in difference to arbitration, and agree to abide the judgment, 
or assent thereto in writing. 

Section 17. The style of all writs and process shaU be, 
"The State of Wisconsin"; all criminal prosecutions shall be 
carried on in the name and by the authority of the same; and 
all indictments shall conclude against the peace and dignity of 
the State. 

Section 18. The Legislature shall impose a tax on all 
civil suits commenced, or prosecuted in the municipal, inferior, 
or circuit courts, which shall constitute a fund to be applied 
toward the payment of the salary of judges. 

Section 19. The testimony in causes in equity shall be taken 
in like manner as in cases at law, and the office of master in 
chancery is hereby prohibited. 

Section 20. Any suitor, in any court of this State, shall 
have the right to prosecute or defend his suit either in his own 
proper person, or by an Attorney or agent of his choice. 

Section 21. The Legislature shall provide by law for the 
speedy publication of all statute laws, and of such judicial 
decisions, made within the State, as may be deemed expedient. 
And no general law shall be in force until published. 

Section 22. The Legislature at its first session, after the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall provide for the appoint- 
ment of three commissioners, whose duty it shall be to inquire 



OF WISCONSIN 105 

into, revise, and simplify the rules of practice, pleadings, forms 
and proceedings, and arrange a system, adapted to the courts 
of record of this State, and report the same to the Legislature, 
subject to their modification and adoption; and such commis- 
sion shall terminate upon the rendering of the report, unless 
otherwise provided by law. 

Section 23. The Legislature may provide for the appoint- 
ment of one or more persons in each organized county, and may 
vest in such persons such judicial powers as shall be prescribed 
by law. Provided, that said power shall not exceed that of a 
judge of a Circuit Court at chambers. 



ARTICLE VIII 

FINANCE 

Section i. The rules of taxation shall be uniform, and 
taxes shall be levied upon such property as the Legislature 
shall prescribe. 

[Section 2. No money shall be paid out of the treasury, 
except in pursuance of an appropriation by law.] 

[Section 2, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 6, 1877.] 

Section 2. No money shall be paid out of the treasury, 
except in pursuance of an appropriation by law. No appro- 
priation shall be made for the payment of any claim against 
the State, except claims of the United States, and judgments 
unless filed within six years after the claim accrued. 

Section 3. The credit of the State shall never be given, or 
loaned, in aid of any individual, association, or corporation. 

Section 4. The State shall never contract any public debt, 
except in the cases and manner herein provided. 

Section 5. The Legislature shall pro\idc for an annual 
tax sufficient to defray the estimated expenses o( the State for 
each year; and whenever the expenses of any year shall ex- 
ceed the income, the Legislature shall j)ro\ide for levying a 
tax for the ensuing year, sufficient, with other sources of in- 



I06 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

come, to pay the deficiency as well as the estimated expenses 
of such ensuing year. 

Section 6. For the purpose of defraying extraordinary 
expenditures, the State may contract public debts (but such 
debts shall never in the aggregate exceed one hundred thousand 
dollars). Every such debt shall be authorized by law, for some 
purpose or purposes to be distinctly specified therein; and the 
vote of a majority of all the members elected to each house, to 
be taken by yeas and nays, shall be necessary to the passage of 
such law; and every such law shall provide for levying an an- 
nual tax sufficient to pay the annual interest of such debt, and 
the principal within five years from the passage of such law, 
and shall specially appropriate the proceeds of such taxes to 
the payment of such principal and interest ; and such appropria- 
tion shall not be repealed, nor the taxes be postponed, or dimin- 
ished, until the principal and interest of such debt shall have 
been wholly paid. 

Section 7. The Legislature may also borrow money to 
repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State 
in time of war; but the money thus raised shall be applied 
exclusively to the object for which the loan was authorized, or 
to the repayment of the debt thereby created. 

Section 8. On the passage in either house of the Legisla- 
ture, of any law which imposes, continues, or renews a tax, 
or creates a debt, or charge, or makes, continues, or renews 
an appropriation of public, or trust money, or releases, dis- 
charges, or commutes a claim, or demand of the State, the 
question shall be taken by yeas and nays, which shall be duly 
entered on the journal; and three-fifths of all the members 
elected to such house shall in all such cases be required to con- 
stitute a quorum therein. 

Section 9. No scrip, certificate or other evidence of State 
debt, whatsoever, shall be issued, except for such debts as are 
authorized by the sixth and seventh sections of this Article. 

Section 10. The State shall never contract any debt for 
works of Internal Improvement, or be a party in carrying on 
such works, but whenever grants of land or other property 
shall ha\ e been made to the State, especially dedicated by the 



OF WISCONSIN 107 

grant to particular works of Internal Improvement, the State 
may carry on such particular works, and shall devote thereto 
the avails of such grants, and may pledge or appropriate the 
revenues derived from such works in aid of their completion 



ARTICLE IX 

EMINENT DOMAIN AND PROPERTY OF THE STATE 

Section i. The State shall have concurrent jurisdiction 
on all rivers and lakes bordering on the State, so far as such 
rivers or lakes shall form a common boundary to the State, 
and any other State, or Territory, now or hereafter to be formed, 
and bounded by the same. And the river Mississippi and the 
navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, 
and the carrying places between the same shall be common 
highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the 
State, as to the citizens of the United States, without any tax, 
impost or duty therefor. 

Section 2. The title to all lands and other property which 
have accrued to the Territory of Wisconsin by grant, gift, pur- 
chase, forfeiture, escJieat, or otherwise shall vest in the State 
of Wisconsin. 

Section 3. The people of the State, in their right of sover- 
eignty, are declared to possess the ultimate property, in and 
to all lands within the jurisdiction of the State, and all lands 
the title to which shall fall from a defect of heirs, shall revert 
or escheat to the people. 

ARTICLE X 

education 

[Section i. The supervision of public instmction shall be 
vested in a State Superintendent, and such other officers as the 
Legislature shall direct. The State Superintendent shall be 
chosen by the qualifiod electors of the State, in such manner as 
the Legislature shall i)rt)vide; his powers, duties and ctMiipen- 



Io8 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

sation shall be prescribed by law, provided that his compensa- 
tion shall not exceed the sum of twelve hundred dollars an- 
nually.] 

[Section i, as amended by vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 4, 1902.] 

Section i. The superv^ision of public instruction shall be 
vested in a state superintendent and such other ofi&cers as the 
Legislature shall direct; and their qualifications, powers, 
duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law. The 
state superintendent shall be chosen by the qualified electors 
of the state at the same time and in the same manner as mem- 
bers of the Supreme Court, and shall hold his office for four 
years from the succeeding first Monday in July. The state 
superintendent chosen at the general election in November, 
1902, shall hold and continue in his office until the first Monday 
of July, 1905, and his successor shall be chosen at the time 
of the judicial election in April, 1905. The term of office, 
time and manner of electing or appointing all other officers of 
supervision of public instruction shall be fixed by law. 

Section 2. The proceeds of all lands, that have been or 
hereafter may be granted by the United States to this State for 
educational purposes (except the lands heretofore granted for 
the purpose of a University) and all moneys, and the clear 
proceeds of all property that may accrue to the State by for- 
feiture or escheat, and all moneys which may be paid as an 
equivalent for exemption from military duty; and the clear 
proceeds of all fines collected, in the several counties for any 
breach of the penal laws, and all moneys arising from any grant 
to the State where the purposes of such grant are not specified, 
and the five hundred thousand acres of land, to which the State 
is entitled by the provisions of an act of Congress entitled 
"An act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public 
lands, and to grant pre-emption rights," approved the fourth 
day of September, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one; 
and also the five per-centum of the net proceeds of the public 
lands to which the State shall become entitled on her admis- 
sion into the Union (if Congress shall consent to such appropria- 
tion of the two grants last mentioned) shall be set apart as a 



OF WISCONSIN 109 

separate fund, to be called "The School Fund," the interest 
of which and all other revenues derived from the school lands, 
shall be exclusively applied to the following objects, to-wit: 

First. To the support and maintenance of common schools, 
in each school district, and the purchase of suitable libraries 
and apparatus therefor. 

Second. The residue shall be appropriated to the support 
and maintenance of Academies and Normal Schools, and suit- 
able libraries and apparatus therefor. 

Section 3. The Legislature shall provide by law for the 
establishment of Dstrict Schools, which shall be as nearly uni- 
form as practicable; and such schools shall be free and without 
charge for tuition, to all children between the ages of four and 
twenty years; and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed 
therein. 

Section 4. Each town and city shall be required to raise, 
by tax, annually, for the support of common schools therein 
a sum not less than one-half the amount received by such 
town or city respectively for school purposes from the income 
of the school fund. 

Section 5. Provision shall be made by law, for the dis- 
tribution of the income of the school fund among the several 
towns and cities of the State, for the support of common schools 
therein, in some just proportion to the number of children and 
youth resident therein, between the ages of four and twenty 
years, and no appropriation shall be made from the school 
fund to any city, or town, for the year in which said city or 
town shall fail to raise such tax; nor to any school district for 
the year in which a school shall not be maintained at least three 
months. 

Section 6. Provision shall be made b>' law for the estab- 
lishment of a State University, at or near the seat of State 
government, and for connecting with the same, from time to 
time, such colleges in different parts of the State, as the in- 
terests of education may require. The proceeds of all huKh 
that have been, or may hereafter be granted by the United 
States to the State for the support of a University, shall be 
and remain a perpetual fund, to be called "The University 



no CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Fund," the interest of which shall be appropriated to the sup- 
port of the State University, and no Sectarian instruction shall 
be allowed in such University. 

Section 7. The Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney 
General, shall constitute a board of commissioners for the sale 
of the School and University lands, and for the investment of 
the funds arising therefrom. Any two of said commissioners 
shall be a quorum for the transaction of all business pertaining 
to the duties of their office. 

Section 8. Provision shall be made by law for the sale 
of all School and University lands, after they shall have been 
appraised; and when any portion of such lands shall be sold 
and the purchase money shall not be paid at the time of the sale. 
the commissioners shall take security by mortgage upon the land 
sold for the sum remaining unpaid, with seven per cent interest 
thereon, payable annually at the office of the Treasurer. The 
commissioners shall be authorized to execute a good and 
sufficient conveyance to all purchasers of such lands, and to 
discharge any mortgages taken as security, when the sum due 
thereon shall have been paid. The commissioners shall have 
power to withhold from sale any portion of such lands, w^hen 
they shall deem it expedient, and shall invest all moneys arising 
from the sale of such lands, as well as all other University and 
School funds, in such manner as the Legislature shall provide, 
and shall give such security for the faithful performance of 
their duties as may be required by law. 



ARTICLE XI 

CORPOILA.T10NS 

Section i. Corporations without banking powers or privi- 
leges may be formed under general laws, but shall not be 
created by special act, except for municipal purposes, and in 
cases where in the judgment of the Legislature, the objects of 
the corporation cannot be attained under general laws. AH 
general laws or special acts, enacted under the provisions of 



OF WISCONSIN III 

this section, may be altered or repealed by the Legislature at 
any time after their passage. 

Section 2. No municipal corporation shall take private 
property for public use, against the consent of the owner, with- 
out the necessity thereof being first established by the verdict 
of a jury. 

[Section 3. It shall be the duty of the Legislature, and 
they are hereby empowered, to provide for the organization of 
cities and incorporated villages, and to restrict their power 
of taxation, assessment, borrowing money, contracting debts 
and loaning their credit, so as to prevent abuses in assessments 
and taxation, and in contracting debts by such municipal 
corporations.] 

[Section 3, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 3, 1874.] 

Section 3. It shall be the dut}^ of the Legislature, and they 
are hereby empowered, to provide for the organization of cities 
and incorporated villages, and to restrict their power of taxation, 
assessment, borrowing money, contracting debts, and loaning 
their credit, so as to prevent abuses in assessments and taxa- 
tion, and in contracting by such municipal corporations. No 
county, city, town, village, school district, or other municipal 
corporation, shall be allowed to become indebted in any manner 
or for any purpose, to any amount, including existing indebted- 
ness, in the aggregate exceeding five per centum on the value 
of the taxable property therein, to be ascertained by the last as- 
sessment for state and county taxes, previous to the incurring 
of such indebtedness. Any county, city, town, village, school 
district, or other munici})al corporation, incurring any indebted- 
ness as aforesaid, shall before or at the time of doing so, provide 
for the collection of a direct annual tax sufticient to pay the in- 
terest on said debt as it falls due, and also to [)ay and discharge 
the principle thereof within twenty years from the time of con- 
tracting the same. 

[Section 4. The Legislature shall not have power to create, 
authorize or incorporate, by any general, or special law, any 
bank, or banking power or privilege, or any institution or corpor- 
ation having any banking power or j)rivilege whatever, except 



112 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

as provided in this article. Section 5. The Legislature may 
submit to the voters, at any general election, the question of 
"BANK," or "No BANK," and if at any such election a 
number of votes equal to a majority of all the votes cast at such 
election on that subject shall be in favor of Banks, then the 
Legislature shall have power to grant Bank charters, or to 
pass a general Banking law, with such restrictions and under 
such regulations as they may deem expedient and proper for 
the security of the bill holders. Provided, that no such grant 
or law shall have any force or effect until the same shall have 
been submitted to a vote of the electors of the State, at some 
general election, and been approved by a majority of the votes 
cast on that subject at such election.] 

[Section 4 and 5, as amended by a vote of the people at a 
General Election, November 4, 1902.] 

Section 4. The Legislature shall have power to enact a 
general banking law for the creation of banks, and for the regu- 
lation and supervision of the banking business, provided that 
the vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, 
to be taken by yeas and nays, be in favor of the passage of such 
law. 

ARTICLE XII 

AMENDMENTS 

Section i . Any amendment, or amendments, to this Con- 
stitution may be proposed in either house of the Legislature, 
and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members 
elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendment, 
or amendments, shall be entered on their journals, with the 
yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the Legislature 
to be chosen at the next general election; and shall be pub- 
lished for three months previous to the time of holding such 
election, and if, in the Legislature so next chosen, such pro- 
posed amendment, or amendments shall be agreed to by a ma- 
jority of all the members elected to each house, then it shall be 
the duty of the Legislature to submit such proposed amend- 



OF WISCONSIN 



113 



ment, or amendments, to the people in such manner, and at 
such time, as the Legislature shall prescribe; and if the people 
shall approve and ratify such amendment, or amendments, 
by a majority of the electors voting thereon, such amendment, 
or amendments, shall become part of the Constitution; pro- 
vided, that if more than one amendment be submitted, they 
shall be submitted in such manner that the people may vote 
for or against such amendments separately. 

Section 2. If at any time a majority of the Senate and 
Assembly shall deem it necessary to call a convention to revise 
or change this Constitution, they shall recommend to the 
electors to vote for or against a convention at the next election 
for members of the Legislature. And if it shall appear that 
a majority of the electors voting thereon, have voted for a 
convention, the Legislature shall, at its next session, provide 
for calling such convention. 



ARTICLE XIII 

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

[Section i. The political year for the State of Wisconsin 
shall commence on the first Monday in January in each year, 
and the general election shall be holden on the Tuesday suc- 
ceeding the first Monday in November in each year.] 

[Section i, as amended by a vote of the people at the General 
Election, November 7, 1882.] 

Section i. The political year for the State of Wisconsin 
shall commence on the first Monday in January in each }'ear, 
and the general elections shall be holden on the Tuesday next 
succeeding the first Monday in November. The first general 
election for all state and county officers, except judicial officers, 
after the adoption of this amendment, shall be holden in the 
year A. D. 1884, and thereafter the general election shall be 
held biennially. All state, county or other officers elected at 
the general election in the year 1881, and whose term of oftice 
w^ould otherwise expire on the first Monday of Janiiar}- in the 



114 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

year 1884, shall hold and continue in such office respectively, 
until the first Monday in January in the year 1885. 

Section 2. Any inhabitant of this State who may hereafter 
be engaged, either directly or indirectly in a duel, either as 
principal or accessory, shall forever be disqualified as an elector 
and from holding any office under the Constitution and lav^^s 
of this State, and may be punished in such other manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. 

Section 3. No member of Congress, nor any person hold- 
ing any office of profit or trust under the United States (Post- 
masters excepted) or under any foreign power; no person 
convicted of any infamous crime in any court within the United 
States; and no person being a defaulter to the United States, 
or to this State, or to any county, or town therein, or to any 
State, or Territory within the United States, shall be eligible 
to any office of trust, profit, or honor in this State. 

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the Legislature to pro- 
vide a great seal for the State, which shall be kept by the 
Secretary of State, and all official acts of the Governor, his 
approbation of the laws excepted, shall be thereby authenti- 
cated. 

Section 5. All persons residing upon Indian lands, within 
any county of the State, and qualified to exercise the right of 
suffrage under this Constitution, shall be entitled to vote at 
the polls which may be held nearest their residence, for State, 
United States or County officers. Provided, that no person 
shall vote for county officers out of the county in which he re- 
sides. 

Section 6. The elective officers of the Legislature, other 
than the presiding officers, shall be a chief clerk and a sergeant- 
at-arms, to be elected by each house. 

Section 7. No county with an area of nine hundred square 
miles, or less, shall be divided, or have any part stricken there- 
from without submitting the question to a vote of the people 
of the county, nor unless a majority of all the legal voters of 
the county, voting on the question, shall vote for the same. 

Section 8. No county seat shall be removed until the point 
to which it is proposed to be removed shall be fixed by law, 



OF WISCONSIN 115 

and a majority of the voters of the county, voting on the ques- 
tion, shall have voted in favor of its removal to such point. 

Section 9. All county officers whose election, or appoint- 
ment, is not provided for by this Constitution, shall be elected 
by the electors of the respective counties, or appointed by the 
boards of supervisors, or other county authorities, as the Legis- 
lature shall direct. All city, town and village officers, whose 
election or appointment is not provided for by this Constitu- 
tion, shall be elected by the electors of such cities, towns and 
villages, or of some division thereof, or appointed by such 
authorities thereof, as the Legislature shall designate for that 
purpose. All other officers whose election or appointment is 
not provided for by this Constitution, and all officers whose 
offices may hereafter be created by law, shall be elected by 
the people, or appointed, as the Legislature may direct. 

Section 10. The Legislature may declare the cases in which 
any office shall be deemed vacant, and also the manner of 
filling the vacancy, where no provision is made for that pur- 
pose in this Constitution. 

[Article XIII, as amended by addition of Section 11, by a 
vote of the people at the General Election, November 4, 1902.] 

Section ii. No person, association, co-partnership or cor- 
poration, shall promise, offer, or give, for any purpose, to any 
political committee, or any member or employee thereof, to any 
candidate for, or incumbent of any office or position under 
the Constitution or laws, or under any ordinance of any town or 
municipality of this State, or to any person at the request or 
for the advantage of all, or any of them, any free pass or frank, 
or any privilege withheld from any person, for the traveling 
accommodation or transportation of any person or property, 
or the transmission of any message or communicatiim. No 
political committee, and no member or employee thereof, no 
candidate for, and no incumbent of any office or position under 
the Constitution or laws, or under any ordinance of any town 
or municipality of this state, shall ask for or accept, from any 
person, association, co-partnership, or coqioratitm, or use, in 
any manner, or for any purpose, any free pass or frank, or any 
privilege withheld from any person, for the traveling acconuno- 



Il6 CI\TX GOVERNMENT 

dation, or transportation of any person or property, or the 
transmission of any messa'ge or communication. Any viola- 
tion of any of the above provisions shall be bribery and be pun- 
ished as provided by law, and if any ofi&cer or any member of 
the Legislature be guilt}' thereof, his ofi&ce shall become vacant. 
No person with the purview of this act shall be privileged from 
testifying in relation to anything therein prohibited; and no 
person having so testified shall be liable to any prosecution or 
punishment for any offense concerning which he was required 
to give his testimony or produce any documentary evidence. 
The railroad commissioner and his deputy in the discharge 
of duty are excepted from the provisions of this amendment. 



ARTICLE XIV 

This article in the original Constitution outlines the special 
ways and means by which the new Constitution was m.ade 
applicable to the new state. As the provisions of the article 
no longer apply, the article is omitted. 



CONSTITUTION OF WISCONSIN 

I The Legislative Power 

Section i. "The Legislative power shall be 
vested in a Senate and Assembly." 

Section 2. ^'The number of the members of the 
Assembly shall never be less than fifty-four, nor more 
than one hundred. The Senate shall consist of a 
number not more than one-third, nor less than one- 
fourth, of the number of the members of the Assem- 
bly." 

Section 3. "The Legislature shall provide by 
law for an enumeration of the inhabitants of the 
State, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
fifty-five, and at the end of every ten years there- 
after; and at their first session after such enumera- 
tion, and also for each enumeration made by the 
authority of the United States, the Legislature shall 
apportion and district anew the members of the 
Senate and Assembly, according to the number of 
inhabitants, excluding Indians not taxed, and soldiers 
and ofiicers of the United States army and navy. 

Section 4 (as amended November 8, 1881). Hie 
members of the Assembly shall be chosen biennially 
by single districts on the Tuesday succeeding the first 
Monday of November after the adoption of this 
Amendment, by the qualified electors of the several 

"7 



Il8 CI\^L GOVERNMENT 

districts ; such districts to be bounded by County, Pre- 
cinct, Town, or ward lines, to consist of contiguous 
territory, and be in as compact form as practicable." 

Section 5 {as amended November d), 1881). "The 
Senators shall be elected by single districts of con- 
venient contiguous territory, at the same time and 
in the same manner as members of the Assembly are 
required to be chosen, and no Assembly District shall 
be divided in the formation of a Senate District. 
The Senate Districts shall be numbered in the 
regular series, and the Senators shall be chosen al- 
ternately from the odd and even numbered districts. 
The Senators elected or holding over at the time of 
the adoption of this Amendment, shall continue in 
office till their successors are duly elected and quali- 
fied; and after the adoption of this Amendment, 
all Senators shall be chosen for the term of four 
years." 

Section 6. ''No person shall be eligible to the 
Legislature, who shall not have resided one year 
within the State, and be a. qualified elector in the 
district which he may be chosen to represent." 

1. The Assembly now consists of one hundred 
members, the Senate of thirty-three. Members of 
the Assembly hold office for two, and members of 
the Senate, for four years. 

2. The student will note that the United States 
takes a census every ten years, and Wisconsin every 
ten years, but as the State census comes about mid- 
way between the censuses of the United States the 
people of Wisconsin have a census every five years. 



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ASSEMBI.V 
DISTRICT MAP 

O F 

WISCONSIN 

APPOf?TlONMENn90l. REGULAR SESSION 

Shnv.-ing fhp popaloiion or (lie iVafc 

by Counties -Ceostis or mv 

Total Population 3.069.04a 




MII.W1UKCC COUNIT 

cur OIS'S 
/ DiS' >>ia wifBS 



OF WISCONSIN 119 



Section 7. ''Each House shall be the judge 
of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own 
members; and a majority of each shall constitute 
a quorum to do business; but a smaller number 
may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the 
attendance of absent members in such manner, and 
under such penalties as each House may provide." 

Section 8. ''Each House may determine the 
rules of its own proceedings, punish for contempt 
and disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence 
of two-thirds of all the members elected, expel a 
member; but no member shall be expelled a second 
time for the same cause." 

Section 9. "Each House shall choose its own 
officers and the Senate shall choose a temporary 
president, when the Lieutenant-Governor shall not 
attend as president, or shall act as Governor." 

Section 10. "Each House shall keep a journal 
of its proceedings and publish the same, except such 
parts as require secrecy. The doors of each House 
shall be kept open except when the public welfare 
shall require secrecy. Neither house shall, without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three 
days." 

[Section 11, as amended by a vote of the people at 
the General Election, November 8, 1881.] 

Section ii. "The Legislature shall meet at 
the seat of government at such time as shall be pro- 
vided by law, once in two years and no oftcner, un- 
less convened by the Governor in sjXTial session, 
and when so convened no business shall be transacted 



I20 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

except as shall be necessary to accomplish the special 
purposes for which it was convened." 

1. The Legislature meets at 12 M. on the second 
Wednesday in January of the odd numbered year. 

2. The student will note the similarity of Sec- 
tions 7-10 to the corresponding sections of the 
United States Constitution. 

3. The salary of Assemblymen and Senators is 
$500 for each session, and 10 cents mileage, but with 
no other perquisites of any kind. 

Section 12. ''No member of the Legislature 
shall, during the term for which he was elected, be 
appointed or elected to any civil office in the State, 
which shall have been created, or the emoluments 
of which shall have been increased, during the term 
for which he was elected." 

Section 13. "No person being a member of 
Congress, or holding any miltary or civil o ffice under 
the United States, shall be eligible to a seat in the 
Legislature and if any person shall, after his election 
as a member of the Legislature, be elected to Con- 
gress, or be appointed to any office, ci^dl or military, 
under the government of the United States, his ac- 
ceptance thereof shall vacate his seat." 

Section 14. "The Governor shall issue writs 
of election to fill such vacancies as may occur in 
either House of the Legislature." 

Section 15. "Members of the Legislature shall 
in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of 
the peace, be privileged from arrest; nor shall they 



ST CI 

2GS3 



POPULATION 
(Oljit 4. ] 



iKt I 

2d 

.Id 

9th 
lOth 
llth 
12th , 
I3lh 
14th 
ISth 
i6th 
17th 
iSth 
I9lh 
20th 
2»st 
22d 

24th I 

2Sth 

26th 

27th 

?8th 

Wth 

30ih 

Jlsi 

32d 

>3d 



SENATE 
DISTRICT MAP 

WISCONSIN 

APPORnONMENnso.. REGULAR SESS-ON 

^fioH'inifthfi popalafion ofihe suKe 

byCounties. Census or mo 

TotalPopulatioh 3.069.0^2 




OF WISCONSIN 121 

be subject to any civil process, during the session of 
the Legislature, nor for fifteen days next before the 
commencement and after the termination of each 
session. 

Section i6. "No member of the Legislature 
shall be liable in any civil action or criminal prosecu- 
tion whatever, for words spoken in debate." 

Section 17. ''The style of the laws of the State 
shall be 'The people of the State of Wisconsin, 
represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as 
follows' : and no law shall be enacted except by bill." 

Section 18. "No private or local bill which may 
be passed by the Legislature shall embrace more 
than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the 
title." 

Section 19. "Any bill may originate in either 
House of the Legislature, and a bill passed by one 
House may be amended by the other." 

Section 20. "The yeas and nays of the mem- 
bers of either House, on any question shall, at the 
request of one-sixth of those present, be entered on 
the journal." 

Sections 21-32 of the Legislative power enumerate 
certain duties and prohibitions on the Legislature. 

In the early days there was mucli abuse of the 
Legislative power of the States, in that individuals 
would get laws made that singled out some particu- 
lar interest to be encouraged or prohibited. Thus 
an influential representative might get certain privi- 
leges for his city that no other city had, or obtain 
some exemption from taxation, or the establishment 



122 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

of some road, or the regulation of some river by laws 
that apphed to no one else. In Section 31, certain 
special laws are forbidden, and the attempt is made 
to bring all individuals and corporations under the 
same privileges and duties. 



Questions on the Legislative Power of the State 

1. In whom is the Legislative power of the State vested? 
Give their number, apportionment, term of office, and salary. 

2. Answer the same as in (i) for the Senators and Repre- 
sentatives of the United States. 

3. Examine boundaries of the Assembly and Senatorial 
districts — does there seem to be any gerrs'mandering ? 

4. What Constitutional provisions make gerrymandering 
difficult ? 

5. As has been shown, most of the work of Congress is 
done in, and by committees. It is so also in the State Legis- 
lature. There are joint committees, standing committees, 
and special committees. 

Here are a few of the twenty or more standing committees 
of the Senate. Give your opinion as to what problems each 
concerns itself with : 

Agriculture, Federal relations, taxation, villages and cities, 
public health, elections, banks and insurance. 

6. What reason do you see for the prohibitions in Article 
IV, Sections 18 and 24 ? 

7. Show the difference between "Special" and "General'' 
laws. 

8. Examine the following section and give a reason why 
you think each of the nine enumerations are prohibited: 

Section 3 1 . The Legislature is prohibited from enacting any 
special or private laws in the following cases: ist. For changing 
the name of persons or constituting one person the heir-at-law 
of another. 2d. For laying out, opening or altering highways, 



OF WISCONSIN 123 

except in cases of State roads extending in to more than one 
county, and military roads, to aid in the construction of which 
lands may be granted by Congress. 3d. For authorizing 
persons to keep ferries across streams, at points wholly within 
this state. 4th. For authorizing the sale or mortgage of real 
or personal property of minors or others under disability. 5th. 
For locating or changing any county seat. 6th. For assess- 
ment or collection of taxes or for extending the time for collec- 
tion thereof. 7th. For granting corporate powers or privileges, 
except to cities. 8th. For authorizing the apportionment of 
any part of the school fund. 9th. For incorporating any 
city, town or village, or to amend the charter thereof. 

9. Is it a wise or unwise law that prohibits members of the 
Legislature from receiving passes from the railroads? 

10. Read Article XIII, Section 11. Give your views on 
this prohibition. 

11. Review your knowledge of the method by which a 
bill is passed in the United States Congress — the method is 
essentially the same in the State Legislature. 

12. Read Article XII of the State Constitution and then tell 
the difference in the methods of amending the United States 
and State Constitutions. 



II The Executive Power 

The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor bear 
the same relation to the State that the President 
and Vice-President do to the United States. Their 
term of office is two years, and their salary $5000 
and $1000 respectively. The executive power is 
supplemented by the officers of the State who are 
known as the 



Administrative Officers 
They are: 

1. The Secretary of State, who has charge of all 
the official records of the State. 

2. The State Treasurer, who has charge of all the 
moneys of the State and pays them out on the proper 
warrant. 

3. The Attorney- General, who is the legal repre- 
sentative of the State. 

4. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
who directs and supervises the educational work of 
the State. 

5. The four officers just given are mentioned in 
the Constitution, and in addition to these there is 
elected a Commisioner of Insurance. 

124 



of wisconsin 125 

Boards 

Nothing shows the growth of the State more clearly 
than the large number of Boards and Commissioners 
that are appointed by the Governor, 

1. The Commissioner of Labor and Industrial 
Statistics directs the inspection of factories and free 
employment bureaus in the larger cities. 

2. The Commissioners of Railroads deal with 
the many problems growing out of the railway or- 
ganization in the State — fares, rates, accidents, and 
safety appliances. 

3. The State Banking Commissioner. 

4. The Dairy and Food Commissioner, who in- 
spects general food products and cheese factories and 
ciieameries. 

5. The Superintendent of Public Property, who 
has general charge of the Capitol building. 

6. The Tax Commissioners, who investigate the 
matters relative to taxation and seek to make just 
and uniform the taxes of the State. The powers of 
this Commission are great, and their duties important, 
particularly in the assessment of the general property 
of the State, and the properties of telegraph com- 
panies, railroads, and electric Hues. 

7. The Commissioners of Fisheries. 

8. The Boards of Agriculture and Forest r v. 

9. The State Board^ of Health. 

10. The Commissioners of the Civil Service, who 
have charge of all examinations for various State 
positions — teachers, engineers, physicians, clerks, 
laborers, game wardens, and employees in general. 



126 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

The purpose of the State Civil Service law like 
that of the United States law is to increase the effi- 
ciency of the public service, and to take office out of 
partisan politics. 

II. Then there are many Boards of Examiners 
for the occupations and professions — medical, 
barbers and dental. 

In fact, there is hardly an interest that can be 
thought of, that has not some Board, or Commission, 
through which it is intended to safeguard the inter- 
ests of the people. 



Questions on the Executive Power 

1. Preliminary to these questions the student should read 
Articles V and VI of the State Constitution. 

2. Give three important duties of the Governor, and com- 
pare these powers with the like powers of the President. 

3. Name the administrative officers of the State and com- 
pare their duties, so far as possible, with the duties of like 
officers of the Cabinet. 

4. Compare the manner in which the Governor is im- 
peached, with that in which the President is impeached. 

5. Give in general the manner of passing a bill in the Legis- 
lature. 

6. What specific duties has the Governor that require each 
of the following characteristics: courage, honesty, intelligence, 
and a knowledge of men ? 

7. What official relations has the governor that require 
general scientific knowledge, technical knowledge, general 
scholarship. 

8. What causes have compelled the increase in the num- 
ber of Boards and Commissions? 

9. Why should there be an insurance department? What 
two kinds of life insurance policies are there ? 



OF WISCONSIN 127 

10. Why should States be obliged to have insurance com- 
missioners ? 

11. What are the duties of game wardens? 

12. What improvements in the railway service have you 
ever noticed ? 

13. What is the necessity for railroad commissioners? 

14. Tell about something in or about the railway service 
that you think contrary to public health or well being. What 
can be done toward changing it ? 

15. Why should there be need of factory, creamery, and 
cheese inspectors? 

16. There is an oil inspector — why should he be neces- 
sary? 

17. What Board or Commission looks after the matter of 
Child Labor? 

18. What is a Free Employment Agency — where are they 
located, and why? 

19. Name two or three of the most important Wisconsin 
fishes. Why should they be preserved, and how is it done ? 

20. The United States has a Conservation Commission, 
and so has Wisconsin. What is the need of these commis- 
sioners ? 

21. What products of Wisconsin when used are wholly 
destroyed; what partially destroyed; what may be remade, 
as it were, and used over again ? 

22. Why should a physician have to pass an examination, 
while a real estate man does not? 

23. Why should barbers and engineers be obliged to jiass 
examinations ? 

24. Go to a grocery store and examine some packages of 
prepared food; do you see any indicaticm of a })ure food law ? 

25. Which of all the relations of the executive power di^ 
you know something about pcrsonallv? Which of all the 
things studied do you think the most important for the young 
citizen to understand? 

26. Do you think the creation of so many Boards and Com- 
missions make the people less interested, or more interested in 
their own welfare ? 



Ill The Judicial Power 

Beginning with the lower courts the judicial 
system of Wisconsin consists of: 

1. The Justices' Courts in the various towns and 
cities, and in the police courts. These courts have 
original jurisdiction in the minor civil and criminal 
offences. 

2. Next higher are the Circuit Courts, of which 
there are nineteen. These courts have appellate 
jurisdiction from the lower courts and original juris- 
diction in the more important civil and criminal 
cases. 

3. The highest court in the State is the Supreme 
Court, consisting of seven judges, who hold office for 
ten years. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court 
is almost entirely appellate. 

4. In addition to these courts mentioned, there 
are courts which are organized to meet the special 
needs of the various parts and interests of the 
State. 

a. County courts are organized in the various 
counties, the jurisdiction of which, while including 
both civil and criminal cases, is confined largely 
to probate matters — that is, to cases involving the 
settlement of the estates of deceased persons. 

b. Municipal courts, about forty in number, are 

128 



OF WISCONSIN 129 

organized in the larger cities, and have a jurisdic- 
tion similar to that of the Circuit Courts. 

c. In some of the cities, juvenile courts are es- 
tablished for the special benefit of boys and girls 
under age. It often happens that a child who has 
committed a crime can be helped in some way other 
than by being sent to jail, or the reformatory. In 
these courts the child is separated from older crimi- 
nals, and this also is a help toward his reformation. 



Juries 

In Wisconsin, the County Boards select a list of 
seventy-five names of persons to act as Grand 
Jurors, and from this list the clerk of the court 
draws by lot a list of seventeen names. 

For petit jurors the Jury Commissioner, appointed 
by the Circuit Judge, makes a list, from which thirty- 
six names are drawn. From these all the juries 
of that term of court are selected. Persons whose 
business is of such a nature as will not allow them to 
be absent from it, arc exempted from serving on a 
jury: lawyers, telegraph operators, teachers, rail- 
road employees, etc. 



Questions on the Judicial Power 

1. What is a subpoena, a warrant of arrest, a search war- 
rant? 

2. Before what court would the following cases first come: 
drunkenness, stealing from the mail, forging a $1000 check, 
selling liquor to Indians ? 

3. Suppose you thought a street car company was digging 



130 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

illegally on your land, what is the name of the writ you would 
apply for to stop them ? 

4. Suppose a man thought someone was holding possession 
of his child illegally, what writ would he apply for? 

5. Why is a Probate Court of great importance in a com- 
munity ? 

6. What is the difference between a civil case and a crimi- 
nal case ? 

7. When are cases "taken up" to higher courts? 

8. Some people desire to act on juries, and some do not; 
give a reason that might influence in each case. 

9. In criminal cases the jury must "agree"; is this a w^ise, 
or unwise provision ? 

10. Fill in the blanks to complete this legal maxim : " Every 
person accused of an offence is assumed unless he is 



11. State an imaginary case w^hen a Grand Jury would be 
summoned. 

12. In what territory do the following courts have jurisdic- 
tion: Justices' Courst, Police Court, Circuit Court, Supreme 
Court. 

13. Read Article VII of the State Constitution, and tell: 
a. What is the number of Supreme Court Justices, and 

their term of service. 

h. How vacancies are filled in the Supreme Court, and how 
a Judge may be removed ? 

14. Why should circuit judges be elected for six years, 
Supreme Judges for ten, and other state officers for two only ? 

15. What objection would there be to electing all Supreme 
and Circuit Judges for life, or good behavior ? 

16. The Judicial Election is not at the time of the general 
election — is this a wise provision ? 

17 What is the dift'erence between the work of a Grand 
Jury, and a petit Jury ? 



au. 



POi 

mo 



STCR 

H.830 



PIER 



JUDICIAL CIRCUITS 



WISCONSIN 

Slio»'in$lhe population of the Slate 

by Counties -Census oC 1900 

Total Population a.06S,(H2 




IV Elections 

To vote at general elections, requires that the 
voter must have registered, and must either be a citi- 
zen of the United States, or have declared his in- 
tention to become such. And he further must have 
resided in the State one year previous, and in the 
precinct in which he votes, ten days. The follow- 
ing are excluded from suffrage : those who bet on the 
election, those who are insane, or who have been 
guilty of felony. 

Primary Elections 

There have been two systems of nominations and 
elections — one called the caucus-convention system, 
and the other the primary system. 

Under the caucus plan, the people met in their 
voting precincts, nominated the local officers and 
elected delegates to tlie county conventions. At the 
county conventions tlic delegates nominated tlie 
county officers, and elected delegates to tlic State 
conventions. At the State conventions, State officers 
were nominated, the j^hitform was prepared, and 
delegates to the National Nominating Conventions 
were chosen. 

Under the primary system the following is essen- 

' 131 



132 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

tially the plan, which ends in the nomination of the 
state officers and the formulating of the platform: 

1. The candidates for the various offices circu- 
late their nomination papers wherever they can 
get signers. The papers must circulate, each in one 
voting district, except that for State officers or United 
States Representative, the district may be the county. 
Someone must swear to the personal authenticity of 
the names. 

For a State office the candidate must have at least 
one per cent of the voters of the State, and one per- 
cent in each of six counties. 

2. The nominating papers are then sent to the 
Secretary of State and he issues to all the voting pre- 
cincts the ''official Primary Ballot." 

3. On the first Tuesday in September, the voters 
of each party are given the ballot of the party with 
which they are identified, and they then vote for 
their choice of State, Congressional, Legislative, and 
County officers. These ballots are certified to the 
Secretary of State, and the Republican recei\ing 
the highest number of votes becomes the nominee 
on the Republican ticket, and like vise with the 
nominees of the Democratic, and other parties. 

4. On the Official Primary Ballot the voters in 
the various precincts write the names of one qualified 
voter who is known as the ''Party Committeeman." 

These Committeemen from the various precincts 
constitute the Party Committee. When several 
Counties form a Congressional district, the Con- 
gi'essional Committee is composed of two members 
from each Assembly district in the County. 



OF WISCONSIN 133 

5. The County Committee in each County now 
elect two members for each Assembly and Senatorial 
district, and their names are certified to the chair- 
man of the State Central Committee, who must then 
call together and organize these Assembly and 
Senatorial Committees. 

6. Now the various nominees for State offices, 
and the Senate and Assembly, together with the State 
Senators who hold over into the next year, meet at 
the Capital on the fourth Tuesday of September, 
and formulate the Party platform which must be 
made pubhc by six o'clock p. M., of the following 
day. 

7. The nominees just enumerated also elect by 
ballot two members and a chairman from each Con- 
gressional district in the State, who constitute the 
'^ State Central Committee" of each Party. 

8. In the "presidential years" the nominees 
previously mentioned elect one presidential "elector" 
from each Congressional district, and two at large 
from the State. 

9. Nominees to the National Nominating conven- 
tion are elected at the April election, four from the 
State at large, and two from each Congressional 
district. 

Doubtless to the student the primary system will 
seem complicated, yet each part fits into all the 
others, forming a plan of election and nomination 
that may be said to be nearly perfect. 

What has been given, applies to general elections, 
and there are some minor changes in the law that 
apply to cities, and to the election of judges and the 



134- CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

State Superintendent. Under the caucus system it 
was claimed that the "boss," or bosses, controlled 
everything from the caucus up, and that the people 
had little choice except through representatives 
of whom they knew little. Under the Primary law, 
the people both nominate and elect their officers and 
comjnitteemen, the only appointing power being in 
the hands of committeemen who appoint those who 
conduct the campaign, and hold no other office or 
nomination. The work of the Committeemen is to 
lay out the campaign work in City, County, and State 
— engaging speakers and circulating literature. The 
objections to the Primary law are chiefly that it 
often divides a party in the struggle for nomina- 
tion, and that the contest for the nomination is really 
an election so far as the expense is concerned. But 
these objections weigh little against the many good 
points of the law, and the Primary law will doubt- 
less become an almost ideal law for the State. 



:iVIL GOVERNMENT 



135 



This is the ballot used in voting for the nominee of 
the party. 

OFFICIAL PRIMARY BALLOT 

General Election 
Party 

To vote for a person whose name is printed on the ballot, 
mark a cross X in the square at the Right of the name of the 
person for whom you desire to vote. 

To vote for a person whose name is not printed on the bal- 
lot, write his name in the blank space provided for that purpose. 



STATE 


Vote 
for one 


COUNTY 


Vote 


Governor 


County Clerk 


for one 


John Doe 
John Doe 
John Doe 
John Doe 


John Doe 
John Doe 
John Doe 





Now follow 
the State Officers 
Lieutenant Governor 
Secretary of Slate 
State Treasurer 
Attorney General 
Commissioner of Insurance 



Now follow the other 
County Officers 
Treasurer, Sheriff, Coroner 
Clerk of the Circuit Court 
District -Attorney 
Register of Deeds, and 
Surveyor 



CONGRESSIONAL 



Representative in Congress 
Legislative 



Slate Senator 



Member Assembly 



PARTY COMMITTEE- 
MEN 



The spacing is the same 
for all officers as for Gov- 

cvnor antl Countv Clerk. 



This ballot when printed is about 6x18 inches. 



136 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Questions and Exercises on Elections 

1. Read Article III of the State Constitution. 

2. Give the general qualifications for voting in Wisconsin. 

3. For what offences are people denied the right of suffrage ? 

4. Women may vote on educational matters in the town or 
city and for Superintendent of Public Instruction — is it justice 
to exclude them from the general elections? 

5. Justify each of the following election laws: 

a. No one must sign more than one nomination paper. 

b. Signers of a nomination paper must reside in the 

same ward, town, or village. 

c. All voters must register. 

d. No candidate can have his name in the primary 

printed on two tickets. 

e. There can be no electioneering near the Polls. 
/. Saloons must close on election day. 

6. Why should a person when marking his ballot, have to 
do it in a booth by himself ? 

7. What is the chief difference between the caucus and 
primary system? 

8. What is meant by "challenging" a voter? 

9. Why should the elections of judges and State superin- 
tendents be "non-partisan " ? 

10. Would it be better to have all elections non-partisan? 

11. Why are judges and State superintendent not elected 
at the general election ? 



V Finance and Taxation 

If the student will recall how the United States 
collects its revenue, he will remember that the "In- 
direct" method was adopted, and the taxes were 
duties and internal revenues. 

In the State of Wisconsin it is property that pays 
the tax, a.nd the taxes are called Direct taxes. 

Each of us lives in, and is a part of: 

I. The State; 2. The County; 3. The town; 
or an incorporated city or village. The great ques- 
tions then are — how much money does each of 
these units spend, and for what purpose; and then, 
who is it that pays it all? 

I 

I. The State spends millions of dollars each 
year to pay its officers, take care of its property, 
and support the various institutions under its con- 
trol — prisons, asylums, reformatories, and schools. 

In 1908, the total disbursements of the State were 
nearly $8,000,000 of which the following are some 
of the items : 

Charitable and Penal Institutions, $1,266,000; 
Common School Fund, $1,575,000; Legislative Ex- 
penses, $T 14,000; Free High Schools and Graded 
Schools, $104,000; Expenses of State Departments 
and Commissions, $1,750,000. 

137 



138 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

2. The Legislature determines how much money 
shall be raised for State purposes each year, and this 
amount is then divided up among the Counties in 
proportion to their wealth. 

The total assessed value of the property of the 
State is about $2,500,000,000. Winnebago County 
is assessed at about $60,000,000. So Winnebago 
County would be required to pay yf^o of the tax 
voted by the Legislature. 

3. But the County has expenses of its own — it 
must pay its officers and support its institutions, 
and this tax is added to the tax that comes down 
from the State. 

4. Now in this case, Winnebago County will pay 
for State and County taxes about $350,000, and this 
amount is divided up to be paid by the various towns 
and incorporated cities. 

5. But the towns and incorporated cities have 
expenses peculiarly their ov^ii, and so there must be 
added to the State and County tax, the local town 
or city tax. 

6. But cities are divided into wards, and so the 
residents of the different wards must pay their share 
of some special sewer or paving tax. 

Sometimes the paving tax is shared by all the 
people of the ward, and sometimes by the people 
only whose property is on the street that is paved. 

7. Now at last we have reached the man who 
pays all these taxes: State, County, City, Ward 

and Special — it is John Doe, a resident of 

street, Ward, of the City of . Of course 

John Doe does not pay all the taxes, but he pays his 



"A" 



OFFICIAL BALLOT. 



If you ietht to vote ah entire pirty Ucket for i 
d.»!gn.Hon at the head of the tellot If f ou de.ire to »o,e .. 
if it be there,' or write any name that you wiih to vole for in 
other party, make a cro.. (X) or other mark in the circle (O) 
president and vlce-pre<ident, you desire to vote for. 



lative and county of f ices and presidential eleclori, make a cross (X) or other mark in the circle (O) under the party 
articular persons without regard to party; mark in the square at the right of the name of the candidate for whom you desire to vote 
proper place. If you desire to vote for state, congressional, legislative and county offices of one party and presidential electors of an- 
he head of ^e party ticket and also make a cross (X) or other mark in the square O at the right of the names of the candidates for 



Democrat 

o 


Prohibition 

o 


Republican 

o 


Social Democrat 

o 


Social Ubor 

o 


Independent 

o 




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OF WISCONSIN 139 

share of them, and we will now find out how much 
his share is. 

II 

1. Beginning in May, certain people, called 
Assessors, go their rounds in the various towns of the 
County, and wards of the City, and assess each man's 
property. Each person is supposed to give under 
oath the true value and amount of his real and per- 
sonal property when asked by the Assessor. By 
the last of June all the property of the town will have 
been assessed, and during the last week of June, if 
anyone has been wrongfully assessed, he may appear 
before a Board, called the Board of Review, and pre- 
sent his case. 

This Board also carefully examines the assess- 
ments in all the Wards, or Towns, and corrects errors 
or injustices which they know to be such. 

2. The County clerk is now in possession of the 
assessed value of his County, and this assessment is 
presented to the County Board of Supervisors for 
their action. 

This Board carefully examines tlie assessments 
in the various Towns and Cities, and if they think 
the assessment in any Town is too high, they lower it ; 
or if too low, they raise it. 

In 1908, the assessment of Winnebago County as 
reported by the Assessors was about $45,000,000; as 
equalized by the County Board it was put at about 
$54,000,000. 

3. The Secretary of State and the Tax Com- 
mission, are now in possession of the assessed value 



I40 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

cf the whole State as given by the assessors and 
equalized by the various County Boards. 

The powers of the Tax Commission are very 
many and important. In general it may be said, 
they have to do with nearly every problem relating 
to taxation. Among other things they equahze the 
assessments among the various Counties, and under 
the influence of the Commission, assessors are finding 
more and more property to be taxed, and are en- 
forcing the laws with greater strictness. 

In 1907, the Assessors gave the value of all property 
in the State at about $1,600,000,000; but the Tax 
Commission raised it to about $2,300,000,000. 

4. Now the value of all the property in the Coun- 
ties being known, it is an easy matter to determine 
the part of the State tax each must pay. To the state 
tax is now added the county tax, and to these two the 
city tax, and to the three is added ward and special 
taxes, all of which are paid by taxpayers in propor- 
tion to their property. x\nd so the message is 
handed down: the Secretary of State informs the 
County clerk; the County clerk informs the Town 
and City clerks, and they inform the Town and City 
Treasurers, and so at last John Doe a resident of 

Street, Ward; in the City of , goes to 

the City Treasurer and pays all his taxes in one 
amount, and happy is he, if he can feel that the tax 
is just. 



OF WISCONSIN 141 

Questions and Exercises on Taxation 

1. From what does the United States derive its taxes? 

2. Explain how Wisconsin in general derives its taxes. 

3. What is the difference between a direct and indirect 
tax? 

4. Peter E.ow is a farmer living in the town of Vinland, 
Winnebago County. 

a. Tell the different taxes he pays. 
h. About what would you estimate his property to be 
if he pays $200 tax? 

5. John Jones lives in the eleventh ward of the city of Osh- 
kosh. He pays about |i86 tax. Arrange in the order of their 
amounts the portion of this tax that goes to the State, County, 
City, Ward, and special taxes. 

6. What is the duty of the local board of reviews? Why is 
such a board necessary ? 

7. Ansvver the same as in (6) of the County, and State 
Boards of Review. 

8. The rate of taxation in Oshkosh, in 1910, was $2.40 per 
hundred. Explain how that rate was determined. 

9. Explain why it is that Counties have different rates, 
and also that different towns or cities of the same County have 
different rates. 

10. Railroads are taxed in this way: The total taxes of the 
State are divided by the total property of the State. Then the 
assessed value of the railroad is multiplied by this rate, or quo- 
tient. Is this just ? 

11. In 1908, the assessed value of railroad property in the 
State was $267,861,500, the total State value was $2,291,638,- 
529, and the aggregate taxes in the State* was $26,382,190.08. 
Determine the rate, and the amount paid by railroads. 

12. All the raih-oad tax goes to the State, but the tax of 
electric lines goes, 15 per cent to the State, and 85 per cent 
to the various municipalities through which the line passes. 
Docs this seem just ? 

13. The assessors exempt some things from taxation — 
Justify the exemption: 



142 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

a. Wearing apparel and books to value of $200. 

h, $200 worth of other personal property. 

c. Wide- tired wagons. 

d. A mechanic's tools. 

e. Cemeteries. 
/. Churches. 

g. A bicycle, sewing machine, and watch. 

14. Which of the following kinds of property would easiest 
escape assessment : 

a. Money and credits. 

h. Personal property, such as jewels and pictures. 

c. Real estate. 

15. Which of the following items will likely be assessed 
nearest its full value: 

a. Farm property, real estate. 

h. Merchants stock. 

c. City lots. 

d. Horses and cattle. 

16. Why are town and city treasurers allowed from 2 to 
5 per cent for collecting "delinquent taxes " ? 

1 6. What do the following signify : 

a. In 1907, the moneys and credits assessed in Ash- 
land County, was only $7000; in Wood County, 
only $6000, and in Douglass County, only $2500. 

h. In 1907, the assessors in Racine County gave the 
value on watches, pianos, organs, and bicycles, at 
about $36,000; in 1908, the State assessment was 
$241,000. 

17. In 1908, Winnebago raised in total taxes about $55 7,000, 
of which about $20,000 went to support the poor. What per 
cent of all the taxes went to the poor? 

18. The tax commissioners say that about 7 per cent of 
the tax one pays is State tax, and the rest is County and local 
tax; can you find in this a reason why the young citizens 
should understand local affairs ? 



VI Local Government 

The Town 

The town is the nearest to a pure democracy of 
any of our Legislative units. It is at the Town 
meeting held on the first Tuesday in April that the 
people meet to elect their officers. 

1. The Legislative power is vested in the Town 
Meeting itself. 

The Executive power is vested in constables. 
The Judicial power is vested in the Justices of the 
Peace. 

2. In addition to the Constables and Justices of 
the Peace each town elects : 

a. Three supervisors, one of whom is chairman 
of the Town Board of Supervisors. 

The Town Board superintends the disbursement 
of the Town money, and has charge of all aftairs of 
the Town not by law committed to other officers. 

b. A Town Clerk, who acts as clerk of the Town 
Board and Town Meeting and is the custodian of 
all Town records. 

c. A Town Treasurer. 

d. Town Assessors, who make out the assessment 
rolls of the town. 

143 



144 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

c. An Overseer of Highways for each road 
district. 

/. A Town Librarian. 

Town officers are in general compensated by fees, 
or by the day. 

The County 

The Counties of the State vary in size, from 
Kenosha County, 274 square miles, to Marathon 
County, 1532 square miles. 

The component units of the County are the 
Towns and Cities. 

1. The Legislative power of the County is vested 
in a Board of Supervisors, consisting of the Chair- 
men of the various Town Boards, and the Super- 
visors from the several Wards of the incorporated 
Cities in the County. The Board of Supervisors 
meets annually at the County seat and exercises many 
and important powers. Some idea of the powers 
of the Board may be obtained from the Committees 
that are appointed by the Chairman: Equaliza- 
tion, Finance, General Accounts, The Insane, The 
Poor and Poor Farm, The Workliouse, Public 
Buildings, Roads, and Bridges, Per Diem and Mile- 
age, Bonds and Salaries, Printing, and Education. 

2. The County Officers are: 

a. The Sheriff, in whom is vested the Executive 
power of keeping peace mthin the County. 

He appoints his under-Sheriffs and Deputies, and 
is compensated by salary, or salary and fees. 



OF WISCONSIN 145 

b. The first of the Administrative officers is the 
County Clerk, who has the custody of all County 
records, is the Clerk of the County Board, and in all 
financial and election matters is the intermediary 
between the Towns and Cities, and the State; and 
the State, and Towns and Cities. 

c. The County Treasurer is the custodian of the 
money of the County, and pays it out on the proper 
warrant. 

d. The Coroner is the officer who holds an in- 
quest on the bodies of those who have been killed 
by accident, or in whose death there is suspicion of 
foul or illegal means. He may call a "Coroner's 
Jury" who view the body and render a verdict. 

e. The County Surveyor surveys the lands of 
the County as he is called upon by the County or by 
individuals. 

/. The Register of Deeds keeps a list of births 
and deaths, and preserves a record of all sales or 
transfers of property. In Counties of 60,000 or 
over, the County Board may appoint an Abstractor 
whose duty shall be to make out an authenticated 
abstract of property bought. This duty is now 
done by lawyers, or other qualified persons, but the 
tendency is to put everything concerning the pos- 
session of property under legal supervision and 
guarantees. 

g. The District Attorney is the legal adviser of 
the County Board and County OiTicei*s. He prose- 
cutes in the proper court, all offenders of the law, 
and represents the State or County in all the suits in 
Circuit Court, 



146 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

h. The judicial power of the County is partially 
represented in the County Court, which, as has been 
explained, is largely a Court of Probate. The 
further judicial work of the County is, in weightier 
matters, represented by the Circuit Courts, and in 
smaller matters by the Justices and Municipal 
Courts. 

i. The Educational Officer of the County is the 
County Superintendent; he is elected at the Spring 
election in April, holds office for two years, and re- 
ceives a salary fixed by the Board of Supervisors. 

Cities 

The Cities of the State are divided into four classes 
based on population. Milwaukee is the only City 
of the first class. Sometimes special charters are 
granted to Cities, under which they exercise their 
power and duties. 

The problem of government in Milwaukee is, of 
course, more complex than in fourth-class Cities — 
or those having less than io,ocx5 population — but 
aside from various local provisions, they have the 
following general organization: 

I. The Legislative power is vested in the Com- 
mon Council consisting usually of two aldermen 
from each of the Wards. 

The Common Council has its Committees, and 
bears the same relation to the City, as the County 
Board to the County. But the Common Council 
has several Committees which the County Board does 



or WISCONSIN 147 

not have; such as relate to the fire department, 
streets, sewers, parks, and the police. 

2. The Executive power is vested in a Mayor, 
who like the other City officers, is elected for two 
years. The Mayor bears the same relation to the 
enforcement of City laws as the President does to 
the United States, or the Governor to the State. 

3, The Judicial power of the City is usually 
vested in Justices' Courts, and in Municipal Courts. 

Villages 

The organization of a village is very much like 
that of a city. 

For the Mayor, there is a village President. In- 
stead of a Council, there is a village Board of Trus- 
tees. 

In the other officers — Supervisor, Clerk, and 
Treasurer, Justice of the Peace, and Constables — the 
village resembles a Town, and the duties of the 
above-named officers are analagous to the duties of 
the corresponding officers in the Town. To be- 
corne a village, the territory must be at least half a 
mile square, and contain at least three hundred 
population. With a population of 1500 or more 
a village may become a city. 



148 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Questions on Local Government 

1. Define "local government." 

2. What is the difference between a "town" and township 
— which is the political, and which is the geographical unit? 

3. In whom or w^hat, is the Legislative power of the town 
vested ? Of the county ? 

4. Compare the Legislative power of the town and county, 
and tell how they differ. 

5. Tell one thing the Town Meeting can do. 

6. How is the Town Board of Supervisors constituted, 
and what is one of its duties? 

7. What particular duty has the Chairman of the Town 
Board? 

8. What is a duty of the Town Clerk ? 

9. What office of the County corresponds to that of clerk 
in the Town ? Of the City ? 

10. Why is the office of Tow^n Assessor an important one ? 

11. Why are good roads an important element in the town? 

12. Under what authority are roads established? 

13. What are noxious weeds, and what officer is supposed 
to see that they are destroyed ? 

14. To what purpose are poll taxes put ? 

15. What is meant by "working out" one's poll tax? 

16. Define a "fee," ^^ per diem.'^ 

17. How large is your own town? Is it bounded by town- 
ship lines? 

18. When will a town include more than one township? 

19. Give two definitions of "town." 

20. Compare the size of the largest county in Wisconsin 
with the smallest State in the United States. 

21. What are the component units in the government of 
the county ? By whom are these units represented ? 

22. Give a reason why the County Board of Supervisors 
is an important one. 

23. Give a power of the Board in regard to equalization of 
taxes; care of the poor and insane; criminals; education. 

24. What is the distinction between an executive officer and 
an administrative officer ? 



OP WISCONSIN 149 

25. Name the county officers, and give one duty of each. 

26. Suppose you were to buy a farm, where would you go 
to look up the title? 

27. What office has recently been created in the larger 
counties to assist people in securing a legal title to their prop- 
erty? 

28. To what officer would you go to find out: when delin- 
quent tax property was to be sold; the number of deaths in 
the county for the last year; the cost of a hunting license? 

29. Under what circumstances might you employ the county 
surveyor ? 

30. What is the chief duty of the District Attorney ? 

31. Compare the chief Board of the County with the Com- 
mon Council of a city — how are they alike; how different? 

32. Name the Governor of your State. Your Town Clerk. 
Your School Director. 

33. So far as you have studied, what part of civil govern- 
ment seems most important to you, and closest related to your 
every day life? 

34. Give two local officers who receive a salary; two who 
receive fees. 

35. Suppose a child of school age refuses to attend school, 
what is done? 

36. What, if any, is the difference between a constable, 
sheriff, policeman, and marshal ? 

37. What kind of cases would go to a Justice's Court; what 
to a County Court; what to a Municipal Court; and what to 
a Circuit Court ? 

38. Name and bound your Town or City. 

39. Name and bound your County. 

40. Give a reason why your County seat is where it is. 

41. In what part of your County arc the best roads? 
Who keeps these roads in condition? 

42. If there is a Town Hall in your Town, who built it, 
and who cares for it? 

43. Name all the public buildings in your County which 
you have seen. Under whose authority was each built ? 

44. Do you know of any way in which you can help 



150 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

in administering the laws of the United States; the State; 
the County; the Town; the City; the Village; or the School 
District ? 

45. Cities of the third class have from 10,000 to 40,000 
population — name three cities of that class. 

46. Are there any cities in class tw^o — from 40,000 to 
150,000? 

47. In Oshkosh, a city of class three under a special charter, 
the following are some of the ofi&cers; state a duty of each: 
President of the Council, Comptroller, City Attorney, Chief of 
Police, Health Officer, City Physician, City Engineer, Con- 
stable, Assessors. 

48. Review the governmental units you have studied under 
the heads of Legislative, Executive and Judicial power, and 
tell in whom each is vested: the United States, State, City, 
County, Village, and Town? 



VII Education 

Lying at the foundation of Wisconsin's educational 
systems are the District Schools, which derive their 
support from three sources : 

1. The State raises by tax upon the property 
nearly $1,800,000, which is apportioned by the 
State Superintendent among the districts of the 
State in proportion to the number of children be- 
tween the ages of four and twenty. This money 
comes to the district as ''school money'' provided 
an equal amount is raised by local taxation. 

2. This is done by the County Board of Super- 
visors, who levy back upon the districts an amount 
received by them from the school fund. 

This insures a double support to the school. 

3. But the ''school money," and the County 
levy is usually not sufficient to run the school for 
the eight months required. So the extra amount 
is voted at the School District INIeeting, the fii*st 
Monday in July. 

I. The officers of the school district arc the Clerk, 
Director, and Treasurer, who together constitute 
the District Board. They hire the teacher, regulate 
the course of study and have the general care of 
the schoolhouse. 



152 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

2. At the school meeting, in which both men and 
women vote, the general educational affairs of the 
district are discussed; the necessary taxes are 
voted; time of beginning school is determined; the 
question of free text books is voted on, and it is 
decided whether a male or female teacher is to be 
hired. 

3. While all district schools that have an eight 
months' term, and are suitably furnished, share in 
the ^'school money," those schools that have in addi- 
tion to the ordinary furnishings, sets of supple- 
mentary readers, and a proper system of ventila- 
tion, are put in the first class, and receive fifty 
dollars annually from the State. 

4. Under the Wisconsin law all children between 
the ages of seven and fourteen years must attend 
school at least five months each year, unless excused 
for cause. 

City Schools 

In the Cities, the schools are organized from the 
kindergarten to the high schools. These schools are 
supported largely by a tax levied by the Common 
Council, and are under the government of a Board 
of Education, consisting of Commissioners from the 
various wards. ^'Free High Schools," so-called, 
are those whose course of study is determined by 
the State Superintendent, and are under the inspec- 
tion of the Department. Each such school re- 
ceives a share of $100,000 appropriated to them by 
the State. 



of wisconsin 153 

The State University 

This great school, composed of many colleges: 
agriculture, engineering, law, and arts and sciences, 
admits high school graduates from approved schools, 
and others qualified to enter. If a child enters 
school at six, he would finish the high school in 
twelve years, and the University in four years more. 
Sixteen years seems a long time to attend school, 
but when he has finished, there are many occupa- 
tions open to him, of whose existence he would hardly 
have known otherwise. 



Special Schools 

For the purpose of training teachers for their own 
needs many Counties have established : 

1. County Training Schools for Teachers. 

And to give the farmer's boy the training for his 
work, some of the Counties have established also : 

2. County Schools of Agriculture. 

3. For the training of teachers the State has es- 
tablished nine Normal Schools, located respectively 
at Platte ville, Whitewater, Oshkosh, River Falls, 
Milwaukee, Stevens Point, Superior, La Crosse, 
and Eau Claire. 

4. Besides these schools of the State there arc 
many colleges, and academies, and special schools 
of trade and business, that alTord the anibitious bov 
and girl many opportunities and cnccnu'agcmonts to 
make the most of themselves. 



154 civil government 

The State Department 

Over all the schools of the State is the State De- 
partment of Education. The head of the Depart- 
ment is the State Superintendent, whose duties 
bring him into relation with all kinds of schools. He 
is assisted by various Inspectors, who inspect the 
Rural, State Graded Schools, the High Schools, and 
Schools for the Deaf. 

State Institutions 

One of the most important Boards of the State 
is the Board of Control that oversees the Reforma- 
tory, Penal, and Charitable Institutions. Not only 
are State institutions under their immediate control, 
but they inspect the County Insane Asylums, Poor 
Houses, Police Stations, and Jails. 

The two State Insane Asylums are at Oshkosh, 
and Mendota. 

The School for the Blind is at Janesville; the 
School for the Deaf, at Delevan; the School for the 
Feeble-Minded at Chippewa Falls, and the Home 
for Dependent Children at Sparta. 

The State of Wisconsin cares for every class of its 
citizens, the weak as well as the strong, and when we 
know that in all these schools and homes, everj^hing 
is neat, cheerful, and sanitary we realize how each of 
us is related to all the rest. 

Persons convicted of minor offences are confined 
in jails or workhouses; but for the graver offences, 
criminals are sent to the State Prison at Waupun. 



OF WISCONSIN 155 

The Industrial School for Boys at Waukesha takes 
boys who have committed offences, or whose surround- 
ings are immoral, and gives them a right start in life. 

For first offenders between sixteen and thirty years 
of age the State Reformatory has been established at 
Green Bay. As a protection for girls, a school on the 
same plan as the Industrial School at Waukesha has 
been established at Milwaukee. 

The purpose of these schools is not only to punish 
for offences, but to take children away from the 
temptations to immorality and crime. Another ex- 
ample of Wisconsin's just generosity is the Veteran's 
Home at Waupaca. 

This institution, which receives indigent veterans 
and their wives, is supported jointly by the State 
and United States Governments. There are about 
seven hundred members, men and women, and the 
expense of maintenance is about $110,000 per annum. 

When the State needed men to protect her inter- 
ests, these soldiers responded, often at a great sacrifice, 
and it is right and just that they, in their age and in- 
firmity, should feel the State's generous care. 

The student has now finished the outline of the 
nation and the State. How wide and complex it 
all is, and yet taken unit by unit, how simple and 
understandable it all is. 

It should make us all proud and tliankful — proud 
that we are a part of it all, and tliankful that wc have 
the minds to understand our country's institutions 
and laws, and the conscience to make us helpful 
and law-abidinii citizens. 



156 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Questions on Education 

1. From what sources are the district schools supported? 

2. Where does "school money" come from? 

3. Before a district can get its school money, what must it 
have done? 

4. Explain how the present system of taxation gives a 
double support to the schools. 

5. What must a district school do, or have, to entitle it to 
draw school money? 

6. What must be done that a district may have an extra 
$50 from the State? 

7. Why does the law require that instruction shall be given 
in the English language? 

8. How many hours in a school day? How many days 
in a school month ? 

9. About how^ many dollars did it require to run your school 
the last year? How much of this sum was voted as a district 
tax? 

10. Some schools run so cheaply that they require no ex- 
tra district tax, how is it possible? Is it just? 

1 1 . Tell what you can about the time, place, and purpose of 
the district meeting. 

12. Why are women allowed to vote on school matters, in 
the district, and for County, and State superintendent ? 

13. Is it right to allow women to vote on school matters, 
but prohibit them from voting on other matters ? 

14. What are " free text-books ? " 

15. Is the plan of free text-books better than to have chil- 
dren buy their own books? 

16. Give the substance of Wisconsin's Compulsory Attend- 
ance Law. 

17. What is a State Graded School? Under what circum- 
stances do they receive assistance from the State? 

18. Describe the schools w^hich a pupil would attend to be- 
come a farmer, a pharmacist, a civil engineer, a teacher. 

19. What benefit comes from graduating from a high 
school — a college ? 

20. Locate the following colleges: Milwaukee-Downer, 



OF WISCONSIN 157 

Beloit, Lawrence, Marquette, Milton, Stout Manual and 
Training School, Carroll, Ripon, Northwestern, Wayland, and 
Northland. 

21. What Board manages the State Penal and Charitable 
Institutions ? 

22. Give the location of a Charitable Institution, a Penal 
Institution ? 

23. What are the purposes of the Girls' Industrial School; 
the Boys' Industrial School ? 

24. Describe any State institution you have ever seen. 

25. What and where is the Veteran's Home? 

26. What is the law relative to child labor? 

27. What is Wisconsin doing for the blind, the deaf, and 
the homeless ? 

28. Give the different ways in which the community and 
the State protects its citizens. Give your own experience if 
possible. 

29. In all your State, of what are you the proudest — laws 
institutions, practices ? 

30. Why should the State and County Superintendents be 
elected in April, rather than at the general election ? 

32. Upon what topic in Civil Government have you read 
most? 

32. Upon what have you done some original thinking? 



158 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

General Information Questions on Wisconsin 

These questions are selected from questions handed in by 
about fifty teachers, superintendents, and business men — in 
answer to the query: "What ought a pupil graduating from 
the common schools, to know about Wisconsin?'* 

I Trace the boundar>^ of the State according to the Con- 
stitution of Wisconsin, and tell w^hat States have taken from 
the "original" Wisconsin, a part of her territor}\ 

2. Name five men in different lines of activity, w^ho have 
helped to make Wisconsin famous. 

3. Give the rank of Wisconsin, in manufacturing, fisheries, 
farm products, and mining. 

4. Name the five largest cities, and give the causes that 
have made them important. 

5. Name the three greatest railroads of the State, give im- 
portant branches and terminals, and tell what kinds of freight 
each transports. 

6. Name the important rivers of the State, and tell where 
on each are the most valuable power sites. 

7. Name the cities concerned in lake navigation and give 
two important lines of navigation. 

8. What is a commercially "strategic" point? Where 
are there such in Wisconsin. 

9. What relation to the people have the following: the 
State Board of Control, Pure Food Commissioners, Tax Com- 
missioners ? 

10. What is the difference between the "Caucus "system, 
and the "Primary" system. 

11. In what portions of the State are the following pro- 
duced or manufactured: tobacco, barley, paper, iron ore, 
sash and doors, machinery, beer, leather, and lead ore? 

12. In what institutions are the following taught or cared 
for: the poor, the deaf, boy malefactors? 

13. How does Wisconsin rank as to colleges, normal 
schools, special schools? 

14. What are limestone formations, and of what value are 
they to the State ? Where are they located ? 



OF WISCONSIN 159 

15. Upon what does the climate of Wisconsin depend ? 

16. Contrast the climate of Merrill and Ashland in summer, 
and winter. 

17. What causes influence the rainfall of Wisconsin? 

18. What is town government, county government? 

19. Give a brief outline of Wisconsin's history. 

20. Tell about the county in which you live: 

(a) The significance of its name. 

(b) Location and uses of important public buildings. 

(c) Two important trade centers and the causes 

that have made them so. 

(d) The physical features, rivers, railroads and 

boundary. 

(e) How the cities and towns are represented in 

county government. 
(/) How taxes are assessed, and for what purposes. 
(g) Something of the progress of the county as shown 

from the county history. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
STATES 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, 
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, 
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America: 

ARTICLE I 

Section i. All Legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist 
of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Section 2. i The House of Representatives shall be 
composed of members chosen every second year by the people 
of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have 
the qualifications requisite for the electors of the most numer- 
ous branch of the State legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have 
attained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a 
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States which may be included within this 
Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be 
determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, 
including those bound to ser^'ice for a term of years, and ex- 
cluding Lidians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. 
The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after 
the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and 
within every subsequent term of ten years, in such niimner as they 
shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not 

161 



1 62 THE CONSTITUTION 

exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have 
at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall 
be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 
choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations one, Connecticut five. New York six. New Jersey 
four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia 
ten, North Carolina five. South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any 
State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of elec- 
tion to fill such vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker 
and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeach- 
ment. 

Section 3. i. The Senate of the United States shall be 
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the 
Legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have 
one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in conse- 
quence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally 
as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the 
first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, 
of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of 
the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one- 
third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies hap- 
pen by resignation, or otherw^ise, during the recess of the 
Legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make tem- 
porary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, 
which shall then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained 
to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant 
of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be Presi- 
dent of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be 
equally dividied. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also 
a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, 
or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United 
States. 



THE CONSTITUTION 1 63 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeach- 
ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath 
or affirmation. When the President of the United States is 
tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be 
convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the mem- 
bers present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the 
United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be 
liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punish- 
ment, according to law. 

Section 4. i. The times, places and manner of holding 
elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed 
in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress 
may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except 
as to the places of choosing Senators. 

2. Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, 
and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
unless they shall by law appoint a different day. 

Section 5. i. Each house shall be the judge of the elec- 
tions, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a 
majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may 
be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, 
in such manner, and under such penalties as each house may 
provide. 

2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, 
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the con- 
currence of two thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its jiroceedings, and 
from time to time pul)lish the same, excepting such parts as 
may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays 
of the members of either house on any question shall, at the 
desire of one-fifth of those present, be enteral on the journal. 

4. Neither house, during (he session of Congress, shall, 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three 
days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses 
shall be sitting. 



164 THE CONSTITUTION 

Section 6. i. The Senators and Representatives shall 
receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by 
law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They 
shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, 
be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session 
of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from 
the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they 
shall not be questioned in any other place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil ofl&ce under the 
authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or 
the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such 
time; and no person holding any office under the United States, 
shall be a member of either house during his continuance in 
ofl&ce. 

Section 7. i. All bills for raising revenue shall originate 
in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose 
or concur with amendments as on other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Repre- 
sentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be 
presented to the President of the United States; if he approve 
he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, 
to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter 
the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to recon- 
sider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house 
shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent together with the 
objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it 
shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both 
houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the Rames of 
the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on 
the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not 
be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) 
after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a 
law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress 
by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall 
not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concur- 
rence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be 



THE CONSTITUTION 1 65 

necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be pre- 
sented to the President of the United States; and before the 
same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being dis- 
approved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limita- 
tions prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Section 8. i. The Congress shall have power to lay and 
collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and 
provide for the common defense and general welfare of the 
United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be 
uniform throughout the United States; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among 
the several States, and with the Indian tribes; 

4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uni- 
form laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United 
States; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 
securities and current coin of the United States; 

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, 
by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the ex- 
clusive right to their respective writings and discoveries; 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed 
on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
and make rules concerning captures on land and water; 

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of 
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two \ears; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy; 

14. To make rules for the goxcrnmont and regulation of 
the land and naval forces; 

15. To ])rovide for calling forth the militia to execute the 
laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disci[)lining 
the militia, and for governing such [)art of them as may be 



1 66 THE CONSTITUTION 

employed in the sendee of the United States, resenting to the 
States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the 
authority of training the militia according to the discipline 
prescribed by Congress; 

17. To exercise exclusive Legislation in all cases whatso- 
ever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as 
may, by cession of particular States and the acceptances of 
Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United 
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased 
by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same 
shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock- 
yards, and other needful buildings; — and 

18. To make all law^s which shall be necessary and proper 
for csLvrying into execution the foregoing powxrs, and all other 
powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

Section 9. i. The migration or importation of such per- 
sons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to 
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 
one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may 
be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for 
each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the 
public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless 
in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before di- 
rected to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from 
any State. 

6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of com- 
merce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; 
nor shall vesels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to 
enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in 
consequence of appropriations made by law^; and a regular 
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all 
public money shall be published from time to time. 



THE CONSTITUTION 1 67 

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; 
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, 
shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any 
present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, 
from any king, prince, or foreign State. 

Section 10. i. No State shall enter into any treaty, 
alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; 
coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and 
silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of at- 
tainder, ex post jacto law, or law impairing the obligation of 
contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the 
net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on im- 
ports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the 
United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the re- 
vision and control of the Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay 
any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of 
peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, 
or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually in- 
vaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 



ARTICLE II 

Section i. i. The executive power shall be vested in a 
President of the United States of America. He shall hold his 
office during the term of four years, and together with the Vice- 
President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legis- 
lature thereof ma>' direct, a number of electors, equal to the 
whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the 
State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Rep- 
resentative, or person holding an office of trust or protu under 
the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 

3. [The electors shall meet in their respective States, and 
vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not 



1 68 THE CONSTITUTION 

be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And 
they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the 
number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, 
and transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President 
of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall 
then be counted. The person having the greatest number of 
votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more 
than one who have such majority, and have an equal number 
of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately 
choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person 
have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said 
House shall in like manner choose the President. But in 
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, 
the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from 
tw^o-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall 
be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the 
President, the person having the greatest number of votes of 
the electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should 
remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall 
choose from them by ballot the Vice-President. 

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the 
electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; 
which day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

5. No person except a natural bom citizen, or a citizen of 
the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitu- 
tion, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall 
any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained 
to the age of thity-five years, and been fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or 
of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers 
and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 
Vice-President, and the Congress may by law provide for the 
case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the 
President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then 



THE CONSTITUTION 1 69 

act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until 
the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his ser- 
vices, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor 
diminished during the period for which he shall have been 
elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other 
emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall 
take the following oath of affirmation: — 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully exe- 
cute the office of President of the United States, and will to the 
best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution 
of the United States." 

Section 2. i. The President shall be Commander-in- 
chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the 
militia of the several States, when called into the actual service 
of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, 
of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, 
upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective 
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and par- 
dons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the 
Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint am- 
bassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the 
Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, 
whose appointments are not herein othenvise provided for, 
and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may 
by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they 
think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or 
in the heads of departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies 
that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting 
commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessar\- and 



lyo THE CONSTITUTION 

expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both 
houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive 
ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that 
the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the 
officers of the United States. 

Section 4. The President, Vice-President and all civil 
officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on 
impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other 
high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III 

Section i. The judicial power of the United States, shall 
be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as 
the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. 
The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall 
hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated 
times, receive for their sendees, a compensation, which shall 
not be diminished during their continuance in office. 

Section 2. i. The judicial power shall extend to all 
cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the 
laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under their authority; — to all cases affecting ambas- 
sadors, other public ministers and consuls; — to all cases of 
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; — to controversies to 
which the United States shall be a party; — to controversies 
between two or more States; — between a State and citizens 
of another State; — between citizens of different States; — 
between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants 
of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, 
Mid foreign States, citizens, or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public minis- 
ters and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, 
the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all 
the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall 
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such 



THE CONSTITUTION 171 

exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall 
make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, 
shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where 
the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not com- 
mitted within any State, the trial shall be at such place or 
places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Section 3. i. Treason against the United States, shall 
consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to 
their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall 
be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses 
to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punish- 
ment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work cor- 
ruption of blood or forfeiture except during the life of the 
person attainted. 



ARTICLE IV 

Section i. Full faith and credit shall be given m each State 
to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every 
other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe 
the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall 
be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section 2. i. The citizens of each State shall be entitled 
to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or 
other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in an- 
other State, shall on demand of the executive authority of the 
State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to 
the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, sliall, in consequence 
of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from sucli ser- 
vice or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party 
to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section 3. i. New States may be admitted by the Con- 
gress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or 



172 THE CONSTITUTION 

erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any 
State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts 
of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States 
concerned as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make 
all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or 
other property belonging to the United States; and nothing 
in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any 
claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall 
protect each of them against invasion, and on application of 
the Legislature, or of the executive (when the Legislature 
cannot be convened) against domestic violence. 



ARTICLE V 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall 
deem it necessar}^ shall propose amendments to this Constitu- 
tion, or, on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of 
the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amend- 
ments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and 
purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the 
Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by con- 
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode 
of ratification may be proposed by the Congress, provided 
that no amendments which may be made prior to the year one 
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect 
the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first 
article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be de- 
prived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 



ARTICLE VI 

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
United States under this Constitution as under the Confedera- 



THE CONSTITUTION 173 

tion. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and 
the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive 
and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this 
Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office or public trust under the United 
States. 

ARTICLE VII 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States, shall be 
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between 
the States so ratifying the same. 

Done iu convention by the unanimous consent of the 
States present the seventeenth day of September in 
the year of our Lord one thousand seven^^hundred 
and eighty-seven and of the independence of the 
United States of America the twelfth. In witness 
whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

George Washington 
President, and Deputy jrom Virginia 

New Hampshire 
John Langton Nicholas Oilman 

Massachusetts 
Nathaniel Gorham Rufus King 

Connecticut 
\\'illiam Samuel Johnson Roger Sherman 



174 THE CONSTITUTION 

New York 

Alexander Hamilton 

New Jersey 

William Livingston William Paterson 

David Brearly Jonathan Dayton 

Pennsylvania 

Benjamin Franklin Thomas Fitzsimons 

Thomas Mifflin Jared Ingersoll 

Robert Morris James Wislon 

George Clymer Gouvemeur Morris 

Delaware 

George Read John Dickinson 

Gunning Bedford, Jr. Richard Bassett 

Jacob Broom 

Maryland 

James McHenry Daniel Carroll 

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer 

Virgestla. 

John Blair James Madison, Jr. 

North Carolina 

William Blount Richd. Dobbs Spaight 

Hugh Williamson 

South Carolina 

John Rutledge Charles Pinckney 

Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney Pierce Butler 



THE CONSTITUTION 1 75 

Georgia 

William Few Abraham Baldwin 

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary. 



Articles in Addition to, and Amendment of, 

THE Constitution of the United States 

OF America 

Proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the 

sereral States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original 

Constitution 



ARTICLE I 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the 
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government 
for a redress of grievances. 



ARTICLE II 

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of 
a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, 
shall not be infringed. 



ARTICLE III 

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in an\' house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 



176 THE CONSTITUTION 

ARTICLE IV 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon 
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particu- 
larly describing the place to be searched, and the person or 
things to be seized. 



ARTICLE V 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or othen;\dse 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, 
or in the militia, when in actual ser\dce in time of war or public 
danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense 
to be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb; nor shall be com- 
pelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor 
be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, with- 
out just compensation. 

ARTICLE VI 

In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, 
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, 
and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; 
to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have 
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and 
to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 



ARTICLE VII 

In suits at common law, where the value In controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be 
preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re- 



THE CONSTITUTION 1 77 

examined in any court of the United States, than according 
to the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

ARTICLE X 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
States respectively or to the people. 

ARTICLE XI 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of an- 
other State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them- 
selves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted ior 
as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as 
Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
voted for as President and of all persons voted for as Vice- 



178 THE CONSTITUTION 

President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 
the government of the United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate; — The President of the Senate shall, in the 
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
the certificates and the votes shall then be counted : — The 
person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall 
be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed; and if no person have such 
majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not 
exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by 
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes 
shall be taken by States, the representation from each State 
having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of 
a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a 
majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And 
if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President 
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before 
the fourth d»ay of March next following, then the Vice-President 
shall act as President, as in the case [of the death or other 
constitutional disability of the President. — The person[having 
the greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall be the 
Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed and if no person have a majority, 
then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall 
choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall 
consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of Presi- 
dent shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United 
States. 

ARTICLE XIII 

Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or 
any place subject to their jurisdiction. 



THE CONSTITUTION 1 79 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 



ARTICLE XIV 

Section i. All persons bom or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of 
the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No 
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor 
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among 
the several States according to their respective numbers, count- 
ing the whole number of persons in each State, excluding In- 
dians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election 
for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of 
the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive 
and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legisla- 
ture thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such 
State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United 
States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in re- 
bellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall 
be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male 
citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty- 
one years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative 
in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or 
hold any office, civil or military, under the Unitcxi States, or 
under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a 
member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or 
as a member of any State Legislature, or as an exocuti\o or 
judicial officer of any State to support the Constitution of the 
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion 
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thera)f. 
But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each house, re- 
move such disability. 



l8o THE CONSTITUTION 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United 
States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for pay- 
ment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing 
insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither 
the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt 
or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against 
the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation 
of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall 
be held illegal and void 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by 
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 



ARTICLE XV 

Section i. The right of citizens of the United States to 
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or 
by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 



INDEX 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES 
Adjournment, prohibition on, 20 Citizenship, 39 



Army, 41 
Ambassadors, 56 
Appointments, 59 
Amendments of the Constitu- 
tion, 73 

Bills, how passed, 26-30 
Bonds, 35 
Bankruptcies, 41 

Colonies, Early Unions, 7 

" Correspondence, committees 

of," 7 
Continental Congress, 8 
Confederation, Articles of, 8 
Compromise, the Constitution a, 

8 



Citizens, rights of, 68, 70 

Election, Senators and Repre- 
sentatives 17 
Election contests in Congress, 22 
Expost facto, 46 
Electoral college, 54 
Extradition, 70 

Filibustering, 30 

''Grandfather" clause, 11 
Gerrymandering, 11 

Habeas Corpus, 46 

Impeachment, 14, 16, 56 



Census, the, 13 

Committees, Congressional, 21 ^ncome tax 35 

Interstate Commerce Commis- 



Congressional Record, 23 

Congress, powers of, 32 

Commerce, foreign and inter- 
state, 35 

Capital, the, 43 

Copyrights, 42 

Contracts must not be repudi- 
ated, 48 

Cabinet, the, 57, 58 

Consular service, 57 

Civil service, 59 

Courts of the United States, 
64,65 



sion, 38 
Inspection, necessity of, 48 
Insular Possessions, 71 

Judicial power, 64-67 
Jurisdiction, original and ap- 
pellate, 66, 67 
Juries, 68 

Land System of Unitetl States, 

72 
Legislative Power, 10 
181 



l82 



INDEX 



Motions, dilatory, 30 
Money, what is, 35, 36 
Money, how congress borrows, 
36 

Negroes, defranchisement of, 13 
Naturalization, 39, 40 
Navy, 41 
New states, 69, 71 

Proceedings, order of in each 

House, 20, 21 
Prohibition on States, 45 
Prohibition on the United States, 

46 

President, power, duty and elec- 
tion, 51-60 
Presidential succession, 55 
Pardons, 60 
''Pairing," 23 
Post-office, 41 
Patents, 42 
Pure Food Law, 48 
Philippines, 71 



Representatives, election and 

qualifications, 11 
Representation, ratio of, 14 
Rules, each House makes, 20, 

22 
Revenue bills, 26 

Senate, the, 15, 16 
Speaker, power of, 21 
Salaries of Congressmen, 24 
Slavery, 45, 46, 70 
Supreme Court, 65 
Three -fifths clause, 13 
Taxation, 34, 35 
Treaties, 58 
Treason, 67 

Unions, early, 7 

Vacancies, in the House, 14 
Voting, how done, 30 

Weights and measures, 42 



INDEX 



183 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF WISCONSIN 

Assembly, members, 117 Juries, 129 
Administrative officers, duties, 

124 Legislature, meeting of, 119 

Assessment of taxes, 139 Legislators, privileges of, 121 



Ballot, primary, sample of, 135 Nominations, method of, 132 

Bills, 121 

Boards, state, list of and duties, Prohibitions on members of 



125 
Board of Supervisors, 144 



Legislature, 120 
Primary elections, 131-134 



Civil service, 125 
Courts of the state, 128 
County, committee, 133 
County government, 144 
City government, 146 

Enumeration, state, 117 
Elections, primary, 1 31-134 



Schools, special, 153 

School money, 151 

School system, 151 

Senators, number and election, 

118 
Special laws forbidden, 121, 122 
State Central Committee, 133 
State Institutions, 153, 155 



Exemptions from taxation, 142 r^. 

^j \. laxation, 1 37-141 

Education, 151-155 ^' 



Governor, 124 

Judicial power, in what courts, 
128 



Town government, 143 
Villages, 147 

Vacancies, 120 

Yeas and Nays, 121 



NOTES 



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m^ 18 1910 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




IJiiiii'i 






